On the 29th of November in the USA the people celebrate thanksgiving day, a day when they give thanks for all the ways they have been blessed, blessed with family, blessed with friends, blessed with health etc. If I reflect on my own life in the 1st world, I can almost be overwhelmed by all I have been given. God has been very generous to me. None of my gifts has been earned - God has been lavish in His goodness.

In that struggle between being generous and being self centered, I need never fear being generous. Ann Frank once wrote “Nobody has ever become poor by giving”. As I reflect on that wonderful Christmas day I realise that the joy I received on that day far outweighed any giving on my part and for that I will treasure that day forever in my heart.

This great generosity on the part of God asks me to look at my own generosity - how generous have I been with others in my life? Am I a person who freely gives of my treasures?  Do I hold what I have been given with open hands or do I clutch it to myself? Isn’t it so easy to allow a quiet guilt to smother our generosity?

One of the great experiences for me was Father Christmas Day at Missionvale on the 8th of December over eight thousand children queued for Father Christmas to receive a present, a drink and some ice cream. Even though the presents were small in first world mentality, the extraordinary joy etched in the faces of those children who I met will never leave me.

A small gesture can mean so much, particularly if you have very little. I was left thinking a lot about that wonderful day and what does it mean to give freely. Maybe to give feely is to give with no strings attached. Just how many times do I hear myself saying: I am not sending him a card this year, he didn’t send me any last year. Or I am not going to give her a present, she never even bothered to send a “thank you” note for the last one. Or I am not going to volunteer to work in my own community - what have they ever done for me? There is always a tension in my own life between being self loving and being self centered I find myself walking that line every day.

Written by Fr Donagh O’Meara from Ireland

“Poverty is not natural It is man-made and can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings and overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity, it is an act of justice.”
- N. Mandela

I came to Missionvale on the 1st of September last. What strikes me as I drive down in the mornings to the Centre is that this is a forgotten place, forgotten by government, forgotten by other South Africans, in bleak moments I find myself saying has Misssionvale been forgotten by God. The scale of the problems here are so overwhelming it’s hard to keep hope alive.

Yet I notice many things in the Centre that give me hope. When you have been forgotten, acceptance is huge. I notice people are accepted no matter what. In my own life I know that one can’t change until one is accepted for who one is. I notice too non-judgemental listening and when one is poor or has AIDS, how vital that is.

I notice care and I think that even the smallest gesture when you are forgotten can make a difference. It might be as simple as a smile or a hand on the shoulder. I see the sensitivity of the care givers in their visits to the houses and how the dignity of the people is enriched by making the effort to visit them in their own place. I am reminded of the proverb “A drop of help is worth an ocean of pity”. And I am reminded of the power each one of us has to make a difference. One woman (Sr. Ethel) believed in that power. May the centre continue to keep her vision alive and remind all of us of the power that is in us.

The Power of One

Take a few minutes to reflect on the power of one.

• One song can spark a moment
• One flower can wake the dream
• One tree can start a flower
• One bird can herald spring
• One smile begins a friendship
• One handshake lifts a soul
• One star can guide a ship at sea
• One word can frame the goal
• One vote can change a nation
• One sunbeam lights a room
• One candle wipes out darkness
• One laugh will conquer gloom
• One step must start each journey
• One word must start each prayer
• One hope will raise our spirits
• One touch can show you care
• One voice can speak with wisdom
• One life can make the difference

You see it’s up to you!!