Better to give than receive

Raise your hand if, when a year passes, you ponder some? I must admit that each new year, I recall the events of years past. I have memories with no children, newborns, toddlers to teens to young married kids and now grandchildren. Many memories involve laughter and time with my favorite people. I also have memories of heartache, loneliness and worry, but thankfully those count in the minority.

Have you pondered where 2022 finds you? I’m confident many of us did not think that COVID-19 would be such a central part of our lives still. How our world has changed from two years ago, when we thought COVID-19 might pass quickly, or ten years ago when Michael Phelps continued to win Gold in the Summer Olympics and we learned to say the word Benghazi for the first time. One might feel that because of the past, the future appears bleak, but I say no!

During the last two years, we have had new changes to our lives. We have learned that we should have invested in Zoom and Door Dash. We have seen people reconnect with their children after school shut down in a way that could never have happened before. People have found enjoyment in the beauty around them, rather than traveling all over the world searching for something that they had all along. Social media continues to reconnect friends and loved ones, thanks to the extra time that COVID-19 created. I have witnessed an upsurge of people doing genealogy work and linking themselves with those who passed before us.

In ESV Acts 20:35 it reads, “In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” I see continued acts of kindness that remind me that the light of Christ continues to shine I witnessed a stranger in a suit grab a tow chain to pull someone from a ditch. When the winds howled, I read story after story on social media of people offering their home for friends so they could stay warm. I saw brave Alaskans march straight into the wind and help neighbors patch roofs and broken windows and loan extra generators to keep homes from freezing.

Even those who were experiencing personal hardship continued to give as Jesus did. 9-1-1 continued to function, EMS picked up the sick and injured, law enforcement completed many wellness checks, and as an amazing community, the Mat-Su valley rallied to take care of its own. One woman could not find a specialized formula for her daughter in the store and after posting about it online, within 30 minutes, she had more than she could have hoped for.

As I look at the year ahead, I have already seen the best of so many Alaskans in just the first few days of 2022. That gives me encouragement for the remaining months. I know that there are still struggles ahead, but I’d like to offer a belated goal for 2022 that might offset the struggles that will surely come. Imagine what would happen if we did three random acts of kindness every day. Pay for the person behind you at McDonalds, leave your full punch card from your favorite coffee shop for the next driver, hold the door open for someone, say hi to someone you would normally just pass without comment. Don’t do anything big or grand, keep it simple: when Christ walked the earth, he did not have money, but he did offer of himself and his talents. May we take the opportunity in 2022 to randomly do three things a day for anyone, friend or not, and be reminded that much like the scripture in Acts 20, it is better to give than it is to receive.

John Boston is a local physician, husband, father, grandfather and believer in Christ. He is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.