Gratitude and Generosity (with Victor Torres)

 We are in the midst of "Stewardship Season" at Canterbury.  As we invite our members and friends to prayerfully consider making a financial commitment to support God's work at Canterbury, we are also inviting our members to share their personal experiences of gratitude, generosity, and stewardship. In this week's blogpost Victor Torres, a CNM student and member of Canterbury, writes about the generosity and gratitude involved in sharing our stories.

by Victor Torres

Gratitude and generosity  have  always been a major part of my life. I have been filled with gratitude on many occasions. Family, friends, community, and acts of love are all reasons why I have been filled with gratitude, and in turn I have tried my best to show generosity to others.

I want to focus on my community activism as an example of how both gratitude and generosity go hand-in-hand. When I was 17, I had already had my share of battles, and many moments of activism in pursuit of a fair and quality education, so when I had to choose a media internship at school I was directed to a project called the KUNM Youth Radio Project,  which is now Generation Justice. Generation Justice is a project that trains youth to use media as a tool for social change. It was the perfect fit!  Throughout my years with this wonderful project I learned about community, social justice, diversity, but most of all I learned about generosity and love. I did many interviews at Generation Justice, and what I took away each time I finished an interview was that it wasn’t difficult to give generosity, because I realized each interview is a story. A story told by a unique and special person. A story that has meaning. The person sharing the story  deserves respect, kindness, and love, and the story must be shared with dignity. When we realize that we are all people created by God, and that we should love one another the way that God loves us then generosity becomes a major part of our lives. Those  people that shared their stories with Generation Justice, with me, and with the community  taught  me that it is easy to extend generosity to one another when we choose to listen instead of judge, share instead of ignore, and most importantly love instead of hate. After each interview I was also filled with gratitude, because of the kindness I felt from our guests and thankful for their stories. It was honor to help them share their stories, and for that I will always be grateful.

In 2 corinthians we see that  in being generous  we also give God thanksgiving. I was reflecting on this, and relating it to my life, and I think giving and receiving generosity is one of the greatest acts to show God how thankful we are. When we extend generosity we are giving to one another and showing kindness in the way that God wants us to. When we receive generosity we are also receiving God’s blessing and love.  To close, I just want to encourage that we all show generosity and extend gratitude, because it can make all the difference. As I always say we should all try our best to come from a place of love in everything we say and do, and I believe if we do so everything else will fall into place.

Do you have a story about gratitude or generosity that you'd like to share?  Email your story and a photo to Sylvia+ at sylvia.miller.mutia@gmail.com.