Blessed to Give . . . and to Receive

I am not a homeless person, though I've played one at the request of an old friend.

Not long ago, one of the men who served as a high councilor over my YSA ward (and also a trusted friend) contacted me with an unusual request: Would I be willing to play a vagrant begging for money to help illustrate an important principle for the Young Men he shepherds in his present calling?

This was an unusual request. For one thing, admittedly, I am not a person you'd take a look at and say *ahem* "He's not getting enough to eat." Anyhow, I accepted and told him I would do my best. His idea was that I would dress as grubbily and as poorly as I could and that I would approach his class (they were having a lesson out of doors on this particularly cool autumn day) to ask for money or food, and this brother would then tell me to go jump in the lake without a life preserver.

It wasn't my best acting (that usually comes when I play dead bodies at improv shows, which actually happens frequently), though we executed our plan the following Sunday afternoon over, and I gave the role my best effort. After being turned away, I waited around the corner for several minutes, then I reappeared, my friend revealed my true identity, and the class discussed how they had felt or reacted when I showed up begging. My friend used the moment to teach the young men a lesson about giving and the whole "Are we not all beggars?" message of King Benjamin.

As for myself, I resolved then and there that the next time I found myself in a similar situation (being asked to give something to a destitute person), that I would help that person out and go the extra mile in doing so.

It didn't take long for an opportunity to present itself. I was getting some work done on my laptop at the local McDonald's because my home ISP (which rhymes with "Mentury Mink") had decided to go on vacation for the week. A young man came up to me to ask for something to eat. I told him that I didn't have any cash on me (which was true and is true the vast majority of the time), but that I'd be happy to buy him anything he wanted to eat with my debit card. He requested only three cheeseburgers to go, and after I paid the cashier and the order was ready, the young man thanked me and went on his way outside.

I share these experiences not to toot my own horn but instead to illustrate a point (in my usual roundabout way), and I feel that it's this: If we ask Heavenly Father for opportunities to serve, He will send people our way. We don't have to look very far (nor to be asked) to see that there are needy everywhere. We don't have to do something big to make a difference. Some of the needy are in want of a meal, like my friend at McDonald's, but others are lonely, or depressed, or ill, or their hands hang low for any number of other reasons. They are in our wards, in our neighborhoods, in line at the store, at our places of work, and even in our homes and/or families.

As I have observed friends and acquaintances share their experiences following the Church's "Light the World" campaign this month, I've witnessed many wonderful things happening. Again, these simple acts of service and the kinds words aren't grandiose, but they add up to mean a lot.

"Christmas means giving," taught President Gordon B. Hinckley. "The Father gave his Son, and the Son gave his life. Without giving there is no true Christmas."

If people don't receive that great gift, then there's no true Christmas, either. Receiving, I think, is just as important as giving. Both giving and receiving are part of a cycle that will continue to bless the giver and the receiver.

In my own, imperfect way, I've tried to give throughout this season of "Light the World." But I have also been blessed to receive a great deal from others who have been lighting the world, too. A little over a week ago, I came home feeling less than wonderful about myself, and I found that one of Santa's elves had left me a care package that included 12 gifts to be opened over the next 12 days, culminating on Christmas Day.

I hope the person who did this, whom I hope is reading this, knows what an enormously needed, timely, and appreciated gesture this has been for me. It alone has made Christmas for me this year. It has also inspired me to do the same for others as I go forward from the Christmas season that will be a thing of the past all-too soon. (Well . . . have a merry little Christmas now, as the song says.)

Who knows? I may even have chances to "Light the World" in January, or even in February. This thing could catch on. Giving and receiving are contagious.

God bless us every one, my friends. And speaking of receiving: Let Earth receive her King.