Author Intrusion: Charity Starts at Home

By Cliff Fazzolari

There are jars by the door at nearly every convenience store. They plead for nickels or dimes, or twenty-dollar bills. Sometimes there are stories of the illness or accident suffered and the punch line that medical bills are through the roof, and the family is about to lose their home.

I defy any man or woman to read the story and not drop a dime or two in the jar. Every year there are telethons to raise money for children, and some authors even donate portions of their proceeds to one cause or another. Yet we have always heard the phrase that charity begins at home. I examined that thought as it pertains to my own life, and yes, I can understand the meaning.

Charity is about learning to love within the confines of a family. It is about sharing and understanding the highs and lows of a marriage. It is certainly about going out of your way to give more of yourself to those around you. If you are uncharitable in your family structure, chances are you can walk right by that jar at the convenience store.

Through the years, I have tried to make donations to those less fortunate. I can’t, in good conscience, walk by a man who is strumming a guitar and begging for a quarter if he has a sign saying that he was a war veteran. I often think that we would be better off as a species if we were all a bit more charitable. Just remember, charity isn’t always about money. It can be a smile, or a wave, or just a kind word. Charity begins at home, and your feeling of home is in your heart.