Giving to experience

Certainly a very notable book written on the topic of giving is Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. It seems that in writing the book Mr. Dickens was intent on scaring a person right into a philanthropic life! However, while the book is a fantastic tale and excellent entertainment, when it comes to creating the desire to give within people, it falls short. This is not due to a lack of writing ability, but rather because giving is not learned through a book.

You can definitely spell out the principles of giving and detail the benefits of it. In fact, that is what this whole Mite resource area is all about! However, while we may encourage someone to give, we will never be able to develop a life of giving in any person, young or old, simply through the words on this website. A life of giving is learned and developed through experience.

We can describe for you the wonderful smell of a gardenia. We can describe the delectably sweet taste of honey. We can tell you about the feeling of a soft down comforter. But unless you smell, taste and feel for yourself you will never really understand what these things are like. Giving is the same way.

A person can listen to every lecture out there and read every book on the subject of charitable giving, but until they give, they are never going to truly learn the matter because they will have never experienced it. A Life of Giving is learned through experience, and the first step in that experience is simply to give.