The Gift of Giving

I was burned out, jaded, mired, and tired in my role as a social worker. I’d been listening to and absorb- ing clients’ traumatic experiences for over thirty years. Even new office furniture could not make these negative feelings go away. A friend invited me to attend the first service of a “ new church he was pastoring.

I dragged myself to the service. There were two hundred people in attendance and a choir of approximately fifty. The pastor began his sermon by telling the story of a couple who lived in the house next door, whose child had recently died. He pointed out the window and mentioned that the side of their house was across the alley adjacent to the church.

The pastor led the entire congregation and the choir into the alley and asked us to sing at the window; perhaps the couple who’d suffered the loss would come to the window and know that there were people who cared. While we sang the couple came to the window and expressed their appreciation. Others arrived, too. Children joined us in the singing.

So did many adults who had not been present at the church service. A group of gang members wandered into the alley, wondering why so many people were there. They joined in the singing as well. It felt so good to be in that alley.

I wondered, When was the last time I felt this good about giving purely for the sake of giving? The answer dawned on me: It was when I was twenty-four years old and first became a social worker.

In the alley, I recaptured the essence of why I became a social worker in the first place— helping purely for the sake of helping. I renewed my commitment to my profession that day. I vowed that I would take care of myself so that I could continue to enjoy the gift of giving.