FEATURE: THE MISSION IS TO GIVE
ON GIVING FOR ITS OWN SAKE by Marcel Reyes
Roman stoic philosopher Seneca's "DE BENEFICIIS" is a body of work describing the merit of "benefits," by which Seneca meant "gifts." In it, Seneca interprets an image of the three Graces, sisters with hands interlocked in a dance that represents the pleasure of giving:
"What is the meaning of this dance of sisters in a circle, hand in hand? It means that the course of a benefit is from hand to hand, back to the giver; that the beauty of the whole chain is lost if a single link fails, and that it is fairest when it proceeds in unbroken regular order... Their faces are cheerful, as those of human beings who give or receive benefits are wont to be. They are young, because the memory of benefits ought not to grow old... [I]n benefits there should be no strict or binding conditions, therefore the Graces wear loose flowing tunics, which are transparent, because benefits love to be seen."
In that elegant prose, Seneca gives us the best case for philanthropy as a concept: it is beautiful to do. It's a dance, sublime and serene. And Seneca gives us the best cause for philanthropy: all the causes. What is Seneca trying to get us to think about? Giving, for its own sake.
Giving for its own sake. What does that actually mean?
I have thought long and hard about that question. About the mission of many organizations, my personal mission? And I am going to take leap and lead with a charge.
The mission is to give. My mission is to give. And the trigger behind my philanthropy may seem fleeting: a moment, a gut instinct, an emotion, a life event. But mission is to dance, to experience the sublime and the serene in the beauty that comes from giving.
Seneca was on to something. And I intend to actualize it.