..续本文上一页event for the children of Africa, and that she would like to do something for those poor children. She had decided to take all the money that was in her savings jar and donate it to the cause. However, the security guard, seeing that they had not been invited, refused to let them enter, saying that the event was not suitable for them.
The little girl then asked, “Uncle, charity is not money, it”s the heart, right
” Her words shocked the security guard. Knowing that she was certainly not able to get in, the little girl then placed the savings jar in the hands of the man and said to him, “I know the people invited are all very rich, and they will donate a lot of money. I do not have so much, but it is all the money I have. If I really cannot go in, please help me take this in.”
Just then, an old man appeared and said, “No, child, you”re right. Charity is not money, it is the heart. You can go in. All loving persons can go in.” The old man was the famous “Sage of Omaha,” Mr. Warren Buffett.
Later, the charity banquet slogan was changed to: “Charity is not money, it is the heart.” The protagonist of that day”s charity dinner was not Warren Buffett, who donated three million dollars, nor Bill Gates, who donated eight million dollars, but the little girl, who donated just thirty dollars. She was well received, and the crowd gave her the most enthusiastic applause.
What does this story tell us
That an ordinary person can participate in charity; that it is not just a privilege of the rich. In this matter, Jet Li”s “One Foundation” has set a very good example. He encourages each person to donate at least one dollar per month, or do an hour of voluntary charitable work. This way, as long as there is a kind heart, anyone can participate in a charitable event.
Charity”s Present Situation and Its Historical Causes
Social polarization is now very serious. Wealthy people spend money like water and are extravagant. In contrast, poor people do not have enough clothes to wear, do not have enough food to eat, and even their basic needs are not guaranteed. The prominent Chinese poet of the Tang Dynasty, Du Fu, once wrote, “While the mansion of the rich has spoilt wines and rotten meats, the roadside has the frozen bones of the dead.” This is as true a picture of the current state of affairs as it was of his. In order to improve the situation in this environment, each of us should generate a non-discriminative love toward others, and, as much as we can, help living beings. If everyone can achieve the idea expressed in the saying “While taking care and honoring our own elder relatives, we should not forget about other elderly. While raising and educating our own children, we should not forget about other children,” then building a harmonious society will be very easy, and just around the corner.
Unfortunately, however, at present this idea just exists on paper, and very few people actually achieve it. Most people only care about their families and friends. As for strangers, even in times of difficulties and hardship, most people never help them. Instead, they remain hard-hearted and uncaring. The reasons why people have this rather negative concept of charity can be traced back to the 1960s and 1970s. At that time, due to the influence of the extreme left and the effects of the “Cultural Revolution,” charity was regarded as “bourgeois sugar-coated bullets” and the “hypocrisy of the landlord”s class,” which was then facing historic destruction and condemnation. This caused charitable acts to dry up, and charity disappeared for almost thirty years. Only in the 1980s did the concept of charity re-emerge in China. Gradually, charitable institutions were established, and then charitable activities were frequently carried out. At that time, some w…
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