Give. Don't almost give.

The other day as I was driving home from work, I heard an ad on the radio. While, as a child, I could remember such jingles as Empire Carpet, or the musical slogan from a radio station, no piece of advertisement has hit me as hard as this one…and they weren't even trying to sell me anything.

"This is Jack Thomas.
Today, someone almost brought Jack something to eat,
Someone almost drove him to a shelter,
And someone else almost brought him a warm blanket.

And Jack Thomas…well, he almost made it through the night."
(see the ad here)

It made me think of all the times that I have passed homeless people in the streets (and there are a lot of homeless people in DC), all the times that I almost put some money in the salvation army bucket, and all the times that I almost gave that extra dollar at the cash register.

I know that I'm not rich. I know that I'm not going to make millions in my lifetime. But I also know that I drive a car, I have a job, I live in a house, I eat nutritious food, I stay warm at night, and I live better than the large majority of people in this world. I am blessed.

That person on the street is no lesser of a person than I. They are my equal. What if I were in their shoes? Wouldn't I want a kind stranger to help me out? How horrible it must be to have your hand outstretched the whole day only to have so many people refuse to help you.

So you say, "Well, they're probably just going to buy alcohol, or drugs, or they're not really homeless, they just do this to look pitiful and make some extra money…I saw an episode like that on 20/20…" All of these statements are completely plausible. All I can ask, is that is it our place to judge? No matter how they got to that place in life, it is not a happy place or a safe place. If the tables were turned and I had my hand outstretched, I would be ever-so-grateful to those few people who decided to give.

There are obviously more (and probably better) ways to give than just out of your pocket on the street. The same council that produced this ad has a website that suggests ideas for giving. It's found at www.dontalmostgive.org. You can bet your bottom dollar that the next time I saw a salvation army bucket, all of my spare change found it's way to the bottom of that bucket.

Even though we are in a recession, even though we are already spending more money than usual at this time of year, and even though your little dollar may not seem like a lot to share; choose to give. Don't almost give.