Goodwill is a non-profit organization that provides job placement services and a number of other community programs, but it is perhaps most widely recognized for its thrift stores. People can donate items they no longer want or need and Goodwill sells them to people looking for items they do want and need and uses the profits to fund all of their programs. I think that this whole process is actually a pretty good symbol or metaphor for the concept of goodwill. There exists within each of us a generous spirit and a desire to serve and help and look out for one another. This selfless impulse is not always the strongest of our urges or compulsions, and maybe it isn’t one that we give into as often as we should, but every day, all over the world, when people could just as easily throw some piece of junk away, or, if they’re feeling slightly more ecologically conscious, recycle it, but instead they drop it off at a Goodwill donation center. Sure, maybe many of these donations are faded or dilapidated or slightly stained or broken or mostly used up or worn out, but some of them are not. I think that the goodwill we show to one another is kind of like this. Sometimes we only serve or help others as an afterthought. When all of our needs and our wants are completely satisfied, to the point that maybe we are a little bored and restless with all of our comfort and good fortune, we glance around and see others who are struggling. We maybe don’t always serve them with our whole heart. In fact, we might find ourselves begrudging our generous impulse, finding faults with those we are trying to help, wishing they were less needy, giving them the emotional equivalent of our used up leftovers. But even if we give without the full purpose of heart, this does not take away from the fact that we are giving. We don’t know what kind of effects even our hand-me-down efforts of goodwill can have on those in need. Even though we might feel a little stupid or embarrassed to donate something that we consider worthless junk to Goodwill, that does not mean that the item that we consider almost unworthy of being donated could represent a priceless treasure to someone who is looking for that exact thing. I believe one of the main reasons that there is not more goodwill among men and women in this world is because we too often place too low a value on what we can offer to those in need. Our gifts and our talents may seem faded and worn out and good for nothing but the trash heap, but if we ignore the critical voices in our heads and follow the generous impulses in our heart, then we will bless the lives of so many who are desperately in search of the treasures that only we can offer.
