Since my week started off with 5 hours of work at Ten Tons of Love, I think I will start there. All kinds of thoughts run through your head when you do the work of sorting the cast-offs of SU students going home for the summer.
One bag had 8 pair of women's underwear and an equal number of bras. How many did she own?
One pair of leather boots were so soft, and in such good condition, you are lead to wonder, what will she do next year when the snow comes?
Apparently the men at SU shower immediately before filling their donation bags because the towels are very damp when they get to the sorters. (You can tell they are 'male' towels because of the other contents of the bag.)
And even as I applaud the generosity of those who are filling the donation bags, I am also aware of how much they must have if they are able to simply throw this stuff away (for if Ten Tons did not pick it up, it would all go to the landfill). All that is donated will find its way into the hands of needy folks in Syracuse (and at no cost to them) and so it is well used.
At the same time, I wonder if those bags are really being filled with generosity when what you are giving is something you would have thrown away anyhow. This is not giving 'out of our substance' - that is, this is not sacrificial giving, it is convenient giving. Perhaps convenient giving is on the pathway to generosity of the heart, but I'm not so sure.
Thanks to all who worked, cooked and prayed for us. Good work was done today.
PW+
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