Who Does His "Fair Share"?

There is a sentence form an unidentified author which says: “There is no limit to the good a man can do, if he doesn’t care who gets the credit.” But sometimes the good that could be done is slowed down by petty comparisons – by people who want to make sure they don’t do more than their “fair share”.

A common complaint among children is expressed in the familiar phrase: “I’ve done more than he has”—and with great emphasis on taking turns. The feeling is sometimes found in families, where someone feels sure he is getting less of giving more than his “fair share”.

Parents, generally, do their best to divide favors and obligations fairly, but they cannot always weigh and measure each gift, each advantage, each chore, with mathematical accuracy. And what is a “fair share” under some circumstances may not be a “fair share” under others. There are so many variables and unpredictable factors that it is impossible for a strict and technical measuring of every task.

But if there were to be a strict and technical measuring of every task, it would readily be apparent that the heaviest share would almost always fall upon parents.

And between mother and father there is a necessary division of labor that can seldom be measured as to who does more. And since parents are willing to work as a team without trying to closely to measure who does the most, so should children work with the spirit of willingness instead of the spirit of petty comparison.

In every close association of people, there must be much give and take, with understanding hearts, and without being too technical. With such a spirit a home can be a heaven (and so could a country or a community).

All of us receive so much that if we were to weigh and measure all we have, and compare what we have with our own effort, we would all have reason to be very grateful – and sometimes perhaps a bit embarrassed – because all we have, others have helped us to have. We are always in debt to parents and other people, present and past – and so should never be guilty of withholding service, of withholding willing work because of petty comparisons, because of being afraid that our efforts exceeds that of someone else.

If everyone were to hold back his service, his work, both materially and inside our very souls, we should be a poor and pitiable people.