Scriptures Reworked: 'Better to give than to receive?'

'It is better to give than to receive' (Acts 20:35) is what we are told.
'Share.' 'Be thankful.' 'There are those less fortunate.'

How does this make one feel when you cannot give?
When a mother cannot buy food;
when she cannot clothe her children;
when she cannot find work.
What worth has she then, when the need is real?

'It is better to give than to receive,' said the man.
The woman on the street looked on.
If it is not better to receive than what are they
in poverty, those who have been left desolate
because of war or migration; violence or
racism?

'It is better to give than to receive,' she heard.
She looked around her empty house,
bare floors and cupboards;
tea, some rice.
Holes in the walls,
and the socks. 
She was not a giver.

Is it not better to receive? Is there not courage,
hardiness, a resilience in asking?
Acknowledging there is need.
That without receiving one might starve;
their children will never know self worth.
This Christmas, know
that it takes spirit and strength to receive.