Library Worklife

Volume 2, No. 9 • September 2005

Work/Life

Giving Thanks

Let’s face it – no one has to give. No one has to think about those outside of their own workspaces, households, and social circles. No one has to have sympathy for those who suffer. Yet you do. On a local, regional, or national level, many of you are aware of those beyond your reach, giving at your capacity. You give a sandwich and change to the homeless woman near your office, you treat your co-worker to lunch, you donate to the cruelty-free animal farm out West, you volunteer during the holidays at the food shelter, you sponsor a child in a developing country, you travel overseas on a working vacation to help victims of a natural disaster.

In crises that are overwhelming in the number of lives they touch and the destruction they bring, like Hurricane Katrina, the outpouring of generosity we see and experience is heartwarming and affirming. Strangers caring for strangers, giving what they have – expertise, time, money, energy, space, housing, sustenance, prayers, influence. For those of you who give, ever, in any amount, for any thing, thank you. You didn’t have to do it. Your kindness saves and changes lives.

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