They do not wrinkle, rot, grow stale, mould, gather mildew, get soggy or sour. These are the most valuable gifts, the gifts that last a lifetime. They are acts of kindness, a piece of advice at just the right moment, a helping hand when most needed, a lift up, a shoulder to lean on, a memory to treasure.
Right now there are more than 838,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon, most without clothing or shelter or food, neither for themselves nor their families. A massive blast of winter threatens to make a bad situation even worse. Terra Mack is a Powell River woman on the United Nations’ front lines doing her part to make a difference. She is helping with the refugee crisis there. Upon Terra’s request, her mother Kathie has organized an effort here to produce as many handmade toques as possible, to send to babies in Lebanon who have little or no protection from the cold. Mothers with young children have been fleeing with only the clothes on their backs, with the single-minded concern of saving their children, to remove them as far from imminent danger as possible.
It is sobering to consider there is rarely if ever any end to humanitarian crises from year to year, and it will always take special people to help, like Terra, with an unshakeable brand of selflessness so true that for them there is not even any awareness they are making any kind of sacrifice. It is simply a life choice, a philosophy or a spiritualism.
People who come to mind include Nelson Mandela, who dedicated his life to peace and to bringing unity to a once violently racially divided nation. The struggle continues beyond Mandela’s death. His is a life to be celebrated.
Here in Canada, Henry Wentworth Monk was the son of a farmer in Ontario through the late 19th century and early 20th century. He was inspired to dedicate his life to helping others. He set out, as an unknown Canadian farm boy, to England where he began working to provide for those in need and make a difference in people’s lives. Soon he realized this was not enough and started forging relationships with people in a position of influence. He soon won over the likes of writer John Ruskin, artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Holman Hunt and the rest of the Pre-Raphaelites to help take his message to the world. Today his portrait by Holman Hunt hangs in the national art gallery. Wentworth Monk travelled the world trying to convince governments in the developed world about the need for a committee of world leaders who together would promote and enforce world peace. His dream was realized when in 1919 the League of Nations was ratified.
It comes down to this: the haves and have nots, the wealthy and the destitute, those who live in comfort and those who wonder if they’ll survive the night. In the case of doing something to help another human being, size does not matter. Each and every act of reaching out to make another person’s life better, more comfortable—survivable—is worth it.
Change is not measured by the number lives touched. True change is measured in a single act of kindness.
Merry Christmas.
