Christine Little—This I Believe 2008
In her essay “A Kind and Generous Heart”, Christine Little writes of her 13-year-old son’s battle with a swollen heart. Her son’s friends and family were praying for a heart to become available; the author was shaken, because she knew that in order for her son to live, someone else would have to die. When a heart did become available for him, she was so thankful, and began to believe in the act of selfless giving. Her son lived another two years, and created many more memories before his second heart failed him; for that, Little is forever thankful, and she was touched because her son gave his eyes for medical purposes so that someone who couldn’t see would be able to see again.
I do support the author’s belief that selfless giving exists. If everyone on the planet insisted they receive something in return for doing something good for someone else, there would be much less happiness and kindness in the world. Despite the evidence of selfless giving, however, I do not think that the giving of a heart to Little’s son, and the giving of her son’s eyes to someone who needed them, was an example of selfless giving. In order for an act to be selfless, the person giving away should either not be affected at all, or should suffer for their gift. The person who gave the author’s son a heart was not affected, surely, but gave their heart long after their need for it was gone—surely an unselfish act, but one that required no pain or platonic attitude on their part. If that person had been alive, they would never have given their heart away—as is true with they eyes of the author’s son. If he had given his eyes away before he died—it would have been terrible, yes—but that would have been “selfless giving”.
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