Wednesday's Word: Charity

For many people, the word charity evokes an image of donating clothes to a second hand shop, food to the food bank, money to the homeless, or something in a similar vein. For years, that was my image. But with age came maturity and greater understanding. I now realize its true meaning, that being the pure love of Christ.

This was again reinforced as I attended the world-wide Relief Society broadcast last Saturday evening. I was moved by Sister Beck's plea for all women to show more charity. In a day and age when more and more women are encouraged by media and more to satisfy their own needs above all else, these inspired leaders of the Relief Society are encouraging women to have more charity.

Let me think for a minute, which one of these pursuits will make this struggling society a better place? Duh!

As I contemplated the peaceful, energizing power of charity, I thought about its impact within literature. Why is it that we as readers gravitate to characters who exhibit aspects of charity and fall in love with them? Would we have the same pull toward a character who was busy taking care of their own needs? No.

Christ taught us to be charitable, not because he simply wanted to make up a list of rules for us to follow, but because charity is a principle of eternal truth, and as such, comes with inherent heavenly blessings. So when we read about a character or a scene that rings of truth, I feel that such passages communicate to a person's soul. That's why I feel incorporating truths of the gospel within a story will touch a reader and makes them hungry for more.

What is your experience with reading and/or writing such interwoven truths?