Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? (Isaiah 58:6)
Many give up something of value during these forty days leading up to Resurrection Day. Why? Many do it ritualistically only to go back to the habit on day forty-one! It is intended as a time to get closer to the Lord and also to serve others. Question: What am I wasting time and money on that I could be using to help someone else?
Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness preparing for ministry . . .to serve. How can we better prepare to serve in the coming days?
Listen to this story . . .
When African American businessman Robert F. Smith declared during a Morehouse College commencement speech that he would pay off the student loan debt of the entire 2019 graduating class of about 400 young men from the historically black school, he provoked a frenzy. Footage of the jubilant graduates immediately went viral, with an outpouring of hot takes on what the news meant.
As a historian of philanthropy, here’s what caught my eye: Smith said that he was making this roughly US$40 million gift on behalf of eight generations of his family with American roots.
On top of paying tribute to his ancestors, I see this generous act as an extension of the under-appreciated heritage of African American philanthropy that began soon after the first enslaved Africans disembarked in Virginia in 1619. Robert F. Smith is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners. He directs Vista’s investment strategy and decisions, governance and investor relations. Vista currently manages equity assets under management of over $73 billion and oversees a portfolio of more than 65 enterprise software, data and technology-enabled companies that employ over 70,000 people worldwide. Since Vista’s inception, Mr. Smith has supervised over 480 completed transactions representing more than $160 billion in aggregate transaction value. In 2017, Mr. Smith signed on to the Giving Pledge, the only African American to do so. In his pledge, Mr. Smith committed to investing half of his net worth during his lifetime “to causes that support equality of opportunity for African Americans, as well as causes that cultivate ecological protection to ensure a livable planet for future generations.” That same year he was named by Forbes as one of the 100 Greatest Living Business Minds.
https://www.vistaequitypartners.com/about/team/robert-f-smith/
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