REVERENTIAL ADDRESS That Blessed Act of Charity OF THE HIGH REVEREND EMERITUS HIS DIVINE, AELFRIC HARHOLD The Tenth of the Sixth Month, 309 AC Gruß und Kaiserliche benediktion. Through the Holy Spirit’s ever eternal mercy, it is the reincarnation of lost souls which places worldly tone at the core of the Unionist mission. Whilst it is our venture of union with Him which is and shall always remain centerfold, a great fuel to the flames that wills us to persist on this Path He did ordain a righteous one, we know the world as the core of this labor of which we have been called to by the one true Lord, the Spirit. In this, it is helping one another in these corporal confines with those means of worldly nature at our disposal which is an ever important tenet of the faith. However, in that virtuous act of charity, it is a balance between almsgiving and gratuitous enabling which is of most import. Now, it may be argued that generosity should have no bounds and this is most truthful, for it is the altruistic nature of fellow man that is a virtue among those teachings of the one truth. Yet, lo; whilst it is of virtue, it is the Path we tread which is foremost among said virtues; that deed of service to the Holy Spirit and the devotion to the divinely inspired Creeds that foretell His rule over all destined to be under His dominion. This of course breeds fraternity and brotherly support of one another on this Great Way; however, it must be known that the few can never carry the many. There are many pillars holding high this great monument of faith that is this Path and in any building, these pillars are integral to it’s sound structure. If one is failing, it is the other faithful who may take weight from their shoulders, just as the many pillars may continue to hold despite another’s failings. However, if two, three, ten, or perhaps twenty of those pillars are to crumble, so shall the structure. It is all the faithful who are needed upon this Path, and while we are expected to aid our brethren, it is in accepting aid that men should not become reliant, lest they in so doing be rendered incompetent, complacent, and all those vices which threaten to hinder this Unionist endeavor. Therefore, it is this issue of balance which comes into play when speaking of charity, for it is help that seeks improvement, not to persist. It is the good Unionist who accepts gratefully the alms of others and looks to the future, yet the lamentable Unionist, or more bluntly put, the leech, who intends to take and to take and to take. I admonish these men who are plagued by greed, and as with all sin, it is too greed which is a cycle. It is greed which will continue to draw at their heart and soul, willing them to do just that; to take and to take and to take from the kindhearted; the charitable men and women of Unionist faith. It is these men and women who are not completely at fault however, therefore daring to say that those who give said alms are partly to blame, not in intention but in action. These faithful, ignorant to the leech that has become of these downtrodden souls, continue to give. Instead, it would be perhaps the greatest charity to look to other means besides the spare coin. The allusions of greed being confined to the wealthy must be done away with, for it is even those who have nothing who may be greedy for something. It is they who look not to that coin as a means to service but as a means to the moment. And so, what may be the solution then? While I do not call you to cease giving alms, for what would this world be without charity; I do call you to be careful with your coin just as the Holy Sancella through the Theology of Economy, so as to not enable those seeking just that and instead, guide them to the bigger picture. After all, it is this Path which is a worldly endeavor but it cannot be done in worldly confines. If all one cares about is coin, then one shall never care about what that coin can do, specifically in faith. Perhaps it is the very notion of charity which can remind the fortunate among the faithful of the true purpose of money, yet my time runs thin and so, let that be reserved for another.
