Conversion to Charity

Haiti in the last two weeks has captured the interest and the seeming compassion of people around the world. From the very rumbling of the earth in the earthquake the traditional media of television and radio were drawing people into the situation. The crisis of the Haitian people was further clarified and presented in real time via cell phone, blogs, and tweets. The information flow made the destruction, the anxiety, the attempted rescues, and the initial international efforts at food, water, and medicine part of our everyday life.

Soon the world was on the case and the United States rose to the humanitarian needs in joining the United Nations on the ground with the people of the island nation. Fund raising itself was a new experience with the ease of electronic transfer of funds. Money and information flowed quickly and Haiti with its crisis was the stuff of television, radio, newsprint, cell phones, and the latest information technology.

Along with the United States military the various news outlets had a lasting presence sharing the ups and down, the tears and hopes, and allowing the stories, the chatting, and the frustrations to be shared on an international basis. Always a human face was put on the situation, even interviewing rescued children and adults. Even those who had lost friends and family were brought forward to elicit sympathy and compassion. This is not to say that the feelings and emotions raised were not intense and real.

Sustained Efforts
At the writing of these thoughts the morning news had a bleak reminder that maybe Haiti had a week more of coverage and then other issues would replace the current news of the crisis and the rebuilding needs. Volunteers had arrived, international efforts had begun, the American people had raised a lot of money, but the question remains about sustaining the interests in the efforts at survival and reconstruction of the Haitian nation.

An amazing discovery during the earthquake experience was that many of the international organizations and religious groups that had been in Haiti before the crisis. One account was surprised at the number of religious priests, brothers, sisters, and lay volunteers who had lost their lives along with the people they served. Before the earthquake in response to many everyday humanitarian and religious needs, charity and compassion were a daily way of life.

A hopeful sign of the present response to the

needs of the Haitian people is the generous and heartfelt response of a very broad group of people. People were touched by the needs of their neighbors. They were moved to respond with funds to all kinds of organizations via all manner of communication. Again the challenge is the sustainability to hang in on the task. Sympathy, emotion, and initial generosity are a good start in the rescue and continuance of life. Are they sufficient to continue with the task and bring the efforts to completion?

Crises are just the beginning. The origin of the word in the Greek is that we stand at a crossroad, which requires decision. Having made the immediate decision how does one sustain the project of continued life and further intensity in more than surviving? From the immediate needs of survival, food, medicine, and shelter is there hope of improvement in the quality and style of human life?

The offer of the present situation, not only in Haiti, but in all manner of human need, is to choose charity as a way of life. People throughout the world rise to help in crisis. The giving of charity takes them away from their own needs and focuses on other people. The poor, the needy, and the suffering invite us beyond survival. In charitable outreach we discover our brothers and sisters in the human family. For the moment politics, selfishness, and being number one give way to more important human and religious dimensions among us. Charity shines a bright light on human relationships, on family, on shelter and food, on education and employment—all of which speak to the human heart of a universal, and a very particular, respect for each person as a child of God and brother and sister to one another. What we discover in charity is that these deeper dimensions of human life are what bind us together and allow for the discovery of God among us.

Gospel Charity
Charity doesn't just follow the headlines and the latest crisis. It has the possibility of being a way of life, where we think of others first and their needs. Conversion in charity places us at the service of the local and international community. We learn the joy of the gospel laying-down-of-life for someone else. The current human crisis in Haiti invites us to find the poor as the first in God's Kingdom, but we also find that charity is the challenge to live for others and find life in overflowing measure. Our very real human sentiments and emotions are the beginning of a sustained life of shared charity in our world and in our communities.

CDH