Charity Wrapped in Dignity……..

One day a lady went to the bazaar and asked an old man who was selling eggs, “How much are you selling the eggs for?”  The old seller replied to her, “Rs.5/- for one egg, Madam.”  She said to him a little arrogantly, “I will take six eggs for Rs.25/- and if you are not ready to give me then I will leave, I do not want them.”

The poor old seller replied, “Come, Madam take them at the price you want. May God bless us, and maybe this is a good beginning because I have not yet sold to anyone. Today from morning no one has come to my store and I have no other choice but to give you for Rs.25/-.”

She took the eggs and walked away feeling a little proud that she had won and got into her fancy car.  Afterwards she picked up her friend and they both went to a high-class restaurant to eat.  She had her friend sat down and ordered from the Menu what they liked.  They ate very little and left a lot of what they had ordered. Then she went to pay the bill.  The bill was around Rs.5000/- and immediately she took out the money from her purse and also said to the owner of the restaurant, “Keep the change”.

This story may seem normal to the owner of the restaurant. But it is very painful for the egg seller.  He was a poor person, hardly earned anything and also in the whole day he took such a less amount of money home. He and his family had a great difficulty to make ends meet.

The bottom line is:

Why do we always show that we have the power when we buy from the needy and the poor? And we are generous with those who do not need our generosity?  Every time a poor child comes to Jane to sell something simple, she remembered a tweet from the son of a rich man who said, ‘After every prayer my father used to buy simple goods for very expensive prices, even though he did not need them. Sometimes he used to pay more for them.  I used to get concerned by this act and I told him about it.  Then my father told me: ‘It is a charity wrapped with dignity, my son.’

Compare these two stories of social hypocrisy. The first one is disappointing and the second one is inspiring.  May we each and every one of us enlighten our vision and be kind and loving to all who come in our lives.