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GivingTuesday

The Thanksgiving holiday season is filled with clever quips to promote gift-buying, economic growth, and global generosity. Today is GivingTuesday though by the time you read this, GivingTuesday may have ended. Nevertheless, let us continue to share the spirit of GivingTuesday. According to givingtuesday.org, the GivingTuesday movement began in 2012. The premise was simple, to create “a day that encourages people to do good” – a day filled with intentional acts of kindness individually, community-wide, corporately, and around the world.

For 2020, a year where the world is in crisis, a year filled with so much grief and loss, illness and death, heartache and depression, anxiety and uncertainty, withdrawal and disconnection, and dread and despair for so many, GivingTuesday means all the more. The magnitude of GivingTuesday 2020 built upon a collective desire to “build a more just and generous world” gives me pause and fills my aching heart with immeasurable hope for all of us. Some give money, others give time or goods and services, a smile, a sweet compliment, or lend a helping hand. Today, I challenge all of us to give a little GRACE on GivingTuesday.

Generosity – Generosity is “spirit and action of freely and frequently giving to others.” Give freely to others. Give your love, your time, your kindness, your smile – give generously.

Respect – Respect is “esteem for or a sense of the worth or excellence of a person, a personal quality or ability, or something considered as a manifestation of a personal quality or ability.” Respect the sanctity of human life. Respect the value and purpose of every single person on this planet.

Authenticity – Authenticity is “the quality of representing one’s true nature or beliefs; true to oneself; genuineness.” Be you, the true and authentic you. The one who feels big emotions, who fails, who falls short, who thrives, who shines, who had a bad day or bad week or a bad year, the one who lives out his or her truth unapologetically. Make no apologies for who YOU are.

Compassion – Compassion is “a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.” Our fellow man needs and deserves our compassion, especially during such a difficult season. Whether gay or straight, Christian or Muslim, married or single, young or old, Democrat or Republic, Black or Caucasian, American or from another country, it simply doesn’t matter. All deserve compassion irrespective of whether their beliefs and practices line up with our own. You never know the private hell someone is experiencing, so be kind and show compassion.

Expectation – Expectation is “the act or state of looking forward or anticipating.” Let us remain forever hopeful of the good that is to come. Let us maintain great expectation for the collective healing of our world, that love has won the battle over hate, and that all will see that every life has value and is worth celebrating.

Will you give a little GRACE this GivingTuesday and beyond?

All definitions taken from dictionary.com.