Do small individual acts of charity have a positive impact on our communities?

Dictionary.com defines charity as the following: 

1. Generous actions or donations to aid the poor, ill, or helpless: to devote one’s life to charity
2. Something given to a person or persons in need; alms: She asked for work, not charity.
3. A charitable act or work 

As we think of charity, I believe that most of us envision that first definition. I believe that it goes much further and can be more along the lines of the third definition. We can perform enough charitable acts that it starts to become a part of our character. I believe this character trait of charity is engrained in most Americans. We are continually recognized as the most charitable nation on earth and I believe it comes from this foundation. 

Charity does not have to be something super complicated. The New Testament defines charity as the pure love of Christ. Taking that simple definition, even for those not of a Christian faith, one can simply exercise it as a love and concern for their fellow man. The simplest way to be charitable is by simple acts of kindness in your own home. My wife likes the fact that on our website I mention doing the dishes. It can be spending a few extra minutes with your kids, sending a kind note or email to a family member in the middle of the day, the possibilities are endless. 

From our homes we can move out to our streets and neighborhoods. You can bring in the trash cans for your neighbors. Help somebody in the neighborhood with a project. As we perform acts of charity starting from our homes and spreading into our neighborhoods we start to have a positive effect on those we come in contact with. At times in my life when I have focused on being more charitable I have felt happier and more upbeat. So much so that those I came in contact with me noticed a positive change in my persona. 

Through our church, there is a special event being sponsored in August. A community yard sale is being organized. This however is not your typical yard sale. It is not designated to raise funds for a cause or anything like that. Everyone in the community, not just church members, is being encouraged to bring items they do not need or don’t use on Friday. Everything will be organized and then on Saturday the community is being invited back to see if there is anything they can use and just have it. I am excited because it is an opportunity for the community to stand together and help each other out during tough times. 

Charity spreads like wildfire amongst not only those who contribute and perform charitable acts. It spreads amongst those on the receiving end as well. These individuals then see an opportunity to pay it forward, in whatever way that they can. 

Benjamin Franklin stated this as his creed, “That there is one God who made all things. That he governs the World by his Providence. That he ought to be worshipped by Adoration, Prayer and Thanksgiving. But that the most acceptable Service of God is doing good to Man.” 

Let us work together to strengthen ourselves, our families, and our communities through random acts of charity and kindness. As we do this we will strengthen our resolve to work hard and to contribute as individuals, lifting ourselves as we lift those around us.

Welcome to the New Individualbility Blog!

Welcome to the Individualbility Blog! As this is the inaugural post I just wanted to give a bit of background as to why I started the website and what we hope to accomplish with it as well as the purpose of this blog. I hope you all find our information enlightening as well as inspiring and a bit entertaining at times. A word of warning to the PC police; I believe that political correctness has stripped us of the ability to have honest straight forward conversation in society. I also believe it strips us of our individual identities and lumps us into little groups. My intent in explaining this up front is to let you know I do not intend to offend people with my selection of terms. However, when referring to say my black friends, I am not going to use the term African American. They all tell me what Colonel Alan West says, “I am an American who happens to be black.” 

I have always believed that it is the individual that makes a difference. That by a man exercising his free will he sets his course and either accomplishes his goals or he does not. In that process his character is molded to become a stronger individual. As we achieve our individual successes we lift up not only ourselves but those around us. By setting the bar higher and raising the water level so to speak, we help lift those around us. Think about it, if you see a neighbor or friend do a bit better are you inclined to do a bit better yourself or are you intent on tearing them down. I believe most of us want to achieve the same types of individual success as we as an individual choose to define them. Even if we are not desirous to have the same exact things, when we see a good work ethic we want to emulate those good qualities. 

In thinking about this my thoughts every now and then the last few years have turned to the increase in class warfare. As described on the site, it is a poison that destroys the soul. It has become more prominent on the news and amongst those around us. Politicians are trying to pit us against each other to keep themselves in power. This goes for both sides of the so called political aisle. It is a tactic used by progressives to get us to follow along with their idea that society must be molded by experts. I have also seen a greater frequency in the use of race against one side of an argument or another. For the last three years or so, anybody who disagrees with President Obama is automatically deemed a racist. This is completely childish. In some previous blogs I have had, I discussed both of these a bit as they kind of weaved throughout multiple posts as an underlying current. 

In October, I heard someone make a statement to the effect that it is the individual that matters and not the collective. This kind of tied it together for me. I thought that message needs to be out there on a site that people can find and be reminded of as it relates to everyday life. We as individuals make our own future and decisions. Whether they are good for us or not; whether people agree with us or not, the decisions are our own. This leads me to a kind of third rail if you like, people blaming others for their own problems. It is something that has bugged me I think my whole life. Even if your individual circumstances are not completely of your own making, you control how you react to them and whether or not you get out of them. It is not up to anybody else. As Americans we are pretty good at getting dirty and fixing our own problems. For some time there are just so many out there that continually try to scream that it isn’t your own fault. You are not responsible. 

So, as time went on and I thought about this little project, which I thought would be good to throw in the school IT portfolio as well, it just kept kind of being shuffled off to the side. This wasn’t intentional of course, just a lot of things competing for my attention. However I felt an underlying pressure that it was something that needed to be done, so here it is. 

Please send any topic suggestions you have keeping in mind that we would like to tie them in to the general theme and mission of the blog and the website. The point of the blog is to examine some of those qualities and topics discussed on the website but in more detail. It is also a chance to discuss further how some of these things can be better applied in our everyday lives. We derive our traffic from word of mouth so please pass us on to those in your own circle. 

Thanks for stopping by!