Generosity and compassion are still alive in the small town of Russiaville, Ind. I believe it is safe to say a host of other character traits also live in that farming community.
Late in June of this past year, the community grieved as one of their farmers, 64-year old Mr. Winger, was killed in a traffic accident. His 42-year old son, Carey, was seriously injured in the same accident. His family was devastated, both by the tragic accident and by the resulting dilemma: how they would harvest 700 acres of soybeans and corn.
They needn’t have worried, since their neighbors understood and practiced the meaning of character-in-action. One offered help right away, and came when it was time to harvest beans. Two other men called to say they were organizing a group to harvest the corn when the time came. The Wingers’ daughter observed, “It’s amazing how all the farmers have dropped their own crops … We’re very fortunate to be in this kind of community.”
That “fortune” was a mixture of generosity and compassion, and appeared on a mid-October morning in the form of more than forty farmers. The farmers arrived early in the morning with 15 combines, 20 trucks and nine grain carts, all rolling up to the Wingers’ family farm, ready for a day of work. The forty “Good Samaritans” worked all day, harvesting and bringing in 87 semi-tractor trailer loads of corn.
You may say, “Well, but that’s a farming community. Farmers are supposed to help each other. It’s their way of life. Remember, they used to have barn-raisings, and still do in some places. They help each other. That’s what they do.”
They do help each other, but why? I believe it is a matter of character. I believe they have been taught strong compassion for other farmers – strong generosity when it comes to one’s neighbor.
These farm families, if they had been given access to the little book Pandora Puppy’s Caring Circle, Character Companions™ Series, Vol. #5, might well have used it to teach their children how to care for one another. Even without the book, they did teach the children, and that teaching shows now as the grown men and women put that teaching into action, helping a family whose hurt they themselves feel.
At this time of year, with winter cold affecting large areas of North America, there are a lot of families in need. Their need is not the same as the Winger family’s need. They do not have a corn crop to harvest, but they do have needs. Some live in small communities. Some live in larger communities. Some live in metropolitan communities.
Most of us live in an area where there is at least one person who needs compassion and generosity. Most of us have at least one opportunity to exercise these two qualities from the list of character traits.
Will we do it? Will we seek out those who have needs, and identify with those needs? Will we do something to alleviate those needs? Will we be generous with our time and money?
Or will we be too busy with our own Christmas holiday plans?
Generosity and compassion are still alive in Russiaville, Indiana. Are they alive in your town?
That’s the view from my chair. What’s your view?