worthy vs. unworthy

So I was talking to a friend today about our Christmas plans. She was explaining that she doesn't have the money to travel back to Nauvoo, Illinois to visit her family so instead of feeling bad for herself she would like to take Christmas to people in need. Being a social work major and currently working in the social work field, she thought that maybe I would have some advice for her as to where she could go to help out the needy. I suggested she ask around her neighborhood to see if anyone knew of any family in need. She explained that that was not exactly what she was thinking about, she wanted people without family. So I suggested she volunteer at a food kitchen serving homeless. This again is not what she had in mind. She let me know that she would like to serve people who could not help themselves, like the elderly or children. This brought my mind directly to something I learned in my social policy class this semester (Oh Mr. Arp would be proud!), it is the idea of "worthy vs. unworthy" poor. With the values we hold in the United States (and these trace back to their roots in the Elizabethan Poor Laws that distinguished who was worthy to receive aid, such as elderly, widows, children and disabled), we often think that some people are worthy of aid because they are poor due to no fault of their own. Well this Christmas season, I hope that no one goes hungry, not even the ones that may have made poor choices in their lives. I just think that in our country, recession or not, we have enough wealth to go around. Why with hold aid from a starving man in the street because he may have made bad choices in his life that led him there? How often have we all made poor choices in our lives? Luckily, most of us have resources and support systems that help us out when we stumble, whereas some people are not so lucky. I truly believe that each of us are all worthy to have our needs met, and not one of us should go hungry. If you have the resources then give. It is not our job to judge, and we can never see into the hearts of others and know how they are feeling or where they really are in life. I hope that as we embark on this Christmas season we can all give gifts of second chances, gifts of service, and gifts of kindness to all those around us whether or not they are deemed "worthy or unworthy." In times as rocky as now, everyone could use a little bit of warmth in their lives. It is time to realize that we are all in this together!