Good morning gentlemen,
I know that many have their own beliefs and their own faith. And I am not here to challenge anyone’s faiths or beliefs. What I want to bring to everyone is one aspect of being a gentleman is being charitable, by this definition is being willing to help those in need and not expect anything in return.
We all can take a moment and look around and see the needs of so many people. And we tend to want to put a blind eye to their situation or make an assumption that they are in that situation because of poor mistakes that they made. And in some cases this could be the case but certainly not in all. And even if it was who are we to judge what or how they ended up this way.
Some look at helping these individuals as enabling them, and supporting their habits, and some look at it as if you help them they will not try to help themselves. And again this is not our place to decide how they ended up this way or what they would they would do with the help, but as gentlemen we need to see if we can assist them.
I can recall when i was a teenager, me and my father were in the car and came to an intersection and there was a man there standing with a sign asking for help. Now my father; who was a minister as well, always kept some bags in his car that had non perishable food in them to give to people in need. This one particular time he had handed them all out and did not have anymore. So my father motioned the man over and gave him some money. I looked at my dad and said “ why would you give him money? You know all he is going to do is go get drugs or alcohol.” My father looked at me and said “ It’s not my place to decided what he does with the money, that is between him and God. It is our place to help him.” That cut me deep , because my father was right. It’s not our place to decided, but to help someone in need. The old add-edge “don’t judge another person until you walked a mile in their shoes.” So gentlemen this holiday season, I ask that if you see a person in need and you can meet that need; do it, not for gratification, or acknowledgment, but because it’s the right thing to do. And if you can not afford to do this, then pray for them that someone else can meet their need, prayers do not cost; they are free, but the return on them is out of this world! And I also ask that going into 2026, make it a point to find a charitable organization to donate to financially or physically, even better do both.