An Intriguing Point, Part 2

Thanks, everyone, for your comments on that last post!

The point that I would make in reply to Vickie’s fascinating review is this:

The idea that one could possibly calculate which are the “right” people to give to in order to get the “right” results is so far-fetched as to be completely impractical. How would you know? You wouldn’t. Because events work in mysterious and unpredictable ways.

The “choose the right people to give to” strategy isn’t how things work in real life. And it’s not even how it works in the story. Ernesto didn’t give his phenomenal hot-dog-stand service only to customers who were obviously affluent or well-connected. He gave phenomenal service to everyone, kids included.

And when Joe gave that lead away to a competitor, he wholeheartedly believed that it not only would do him no good whatsoever, but if anything he was hurting his business.

And truth to tell, we didn’t really make this up. We’ve both seen this kind of thing happen again and again in the course or ordinary life.

So, how do you know when an act of giving will turn out to be to your benefit? You don’t. Happily, you don’t need to. Because if you give unconditionally, if you simply adopt a habit of living with generosity, the “right” people will find you.

At least that’s how we see it.

Let the comments commence!