Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

(Luke 6:38 NIV)

I have been writing for many years now and over that time I have gotten a lot of letters and e-mails of appreciation from people my simple words have touched. One time, though, I got something that surprised me. It was a pre-paid card with $250.00 dollars on it. The person who sent it said she wanted to do something nice for me since my writings had touched her so.

At that time all of my debts had been paid and my children and I had all we needed. I went to a local food pantry I knew of then and seeing that their shelves were getting low I spent the $250.00 on helping them restock on cans of vegetables and boxes of dry goods. I wrote back to the person who had sent me the card thanking her and telling her what I had done. And I never heard back from her again.

I hope I didn’t offend her. Perhaps she was fine with it or perhaps she was mad that I had not spent the money on myself. But the truth was, I had. When you spend money on others, you spend it on yourself. When you give to others, you give to yourself. When you share love with others, you share love with yourself. We are all connected in this world. We are all one. We are all children of the same God.

I remember a story about the author Robert Heinlein. A grateful student asked if there was something she could do to thank him because his books had touched her so much. She wanted to give something back. Heinlein just smiled and said: “You don’t give back, you give forward.” May you always give forward then. Because every act of love, every act of kindness, every act of sharing, every act of giving you do makes this world a better place. And all the love you share in this life eventually comes back around to you. Take your place in this great circle of life. Take your place in this great circle of Love.

Joseph J. Mazzella