The concept of generosity, this month’s Country School Value, is a bit more difficult to convey to children than many of the other values we focus on because what defines generosity is a bit ambiguous and relative. While the dictionary states that generosity implies “giving freely or plentifully,” the spirit with which something is given, beyond the depth of the recipient’s needs or the giver’s means, is also relevant. So, too, is the spirit with which something is received.
Like with beauty, generosity exists “in the eyes of the beholder.” But you know it when you see it or feel it! When we hope our children will develop into generous individuals, we hope they will develop a habit of heart by which they extend themselves for others without the motive of personal expectation.
This month’s shared story (the picture book that our entire school reads), The Runaway Rice Cake, tells of a hungry Chinese family who, in celebrating the New Year, is inadvertently led to being generous. As a result of giving their only celebratory rice cake to an elder who is hungrier than they are, a huge meal magically springs from their neighbors’ hearing of their munificence. Their sacrifice leads others to being generous. Sometimes that is how it is; doing for others can return tangible benefits.
But what we really want our children to learn is that being generous is reward in itself. Little feels as good. It is those feelings that can often lead children to want to be generous to others consistently. Thus, gathered together, generous acts can be a hopeful and powerful transformative force in any community.