You’ve heard that I’m going to release a podcast next year. You’ve also heard that the theme of the podcast will be Generosity is Messy. What you haven’t heard until now is just how universal that mess is!
Over the last few weeks I’ve started to interview folks for the podcast. One of the standard questions is asking the guest to describe a mess created by generosity. Some have even turned the tables and asked me for such a story, which is fun!
What I’m hearing is all kinds of messy stories. International messes. Local messes. Church messes. Corporate messes.
We all want the nice tidy story with an easy plot to follow: see a problem, discover a solution, make a gift, see problem fixed. Oh how I wish it was that easy! What I’m hearing instead is more like this:
1) See a problem. Wait, no, that’s not quite the problem we thought it was. Is that really a problem? Maybe it’s not. Maybe it’s just a symptom of a bigger problem. Maybe it’s a good practice we thought was a problem! I’m confused.
2) Discover a solution. My cousin the school teacher says this works. My uncle the surgeon suggests this. Harvard research has all the metrics to prove this works. The National Philanthropic Study Center of Global Wisdom says best practices suggest doing this. The social worker who has been in the community for years says this is best. Sigh … I dunno, just try something and let’s see what happens.
3) Make a gift. Here’s my cash. Go do something. Wait, no, don’t go do that … I gave you the money for this, not that! Oh, you now think this is better? Well, um, okay, I guess.
4) See a problem fixed. Look, it worked! Oh wait, maybe it didn’t. Is that … really, that’s what happened? Um, sorry …
Like I said, it’s messy. If you think there’s a straight line in generosity, you aren’t close enough to the process.