Charity?

Charity: public provision for the relief of the needy; lenient judgment of others. 

Who benefits from our acts of charity?  Is it the needy or ourselves? And who really benefits from our granting leniency to the outcasts from our society?  Is it the outcast, or is it the judge?  Do judges sleep better at night when they offer leniency to the outlaws?  And why do people operate outside our laws?  Could it be that they have to in order to survive, or to stay sane? 

 Do the homeless sleep better, when they sleep outside our homes?  And do the homeless sleep better under bridges or under the stars?  Are homeless shelters, shelters for the homeless, or do they shelter us from the guilt that seeing the homeless causes us.  Or are they simply tax shelters for the profits we have collected from the poor?  And what happens to the homeless after we replace them in the home? 

When we place our change in the coffers of the poor, whose alms are we really giving, and whose are we taking?  What acts of charity do our non-profits perform? Are we simply tapping off some of the profits from our philanthropists to permit our foundations to continue to prey on the poor?   And when we give aid, what are we taking in payment?

And when we pray for the poor, whose prayers are answered, the poor’s or the pray-er's?  Why are we on our knees when we pray?  And when we wash someones feet, is it because the foot-kisser doesn't like the smell?  Do we play Pontius Pilot and try to wash away our guilt; or perhaps provide a public display of our piety?  Who are we recognizing when we act charitable, the foot or the lips; are we walking the walk, or talking the talk?  Whose feet are we really kissing?  Maybe we should kiss the lips, instead of the feet; or is it our fetishes we are trying to feed? 

Should we celebrate what we have done, or mourn what we allow?  Are we following the leader, rather than leading the way?