Much To Learn About Helping

I have always loved to walk, it is very cathartic for me. I have done it for as long as I can remember. It is my chosen form of exercise, as well as, the way for me to collect and prioritize my thoughts. With that said, for several days now and possibly several weeks, I have been grappling with the definitions of helping others, of right and wrong, good and bad, and virtuous and evil, in relation to doing this. I have even looked to many sources: academia, holy books, seminars, self-help books, etc. for guidance in this area. I still am unsure and think it will be a life long, case by case, day by day decision as to what is best. I think all I do know is that there is much to learn and much to teach in this entire process.

Is it right, good, or virtuous that I may consume an inexpensive product, when it was produced, very likely, by someone making less than one dollar an hour. How is that helping? Is it right, good, or virtuous that my government takes my hard-earned income, that my blood, sweat, and tears went into making, to give it to someone not willing to do the same as I? How is this helping their productivity and my ability to live a life as I desire? And by the way, am I really helping someone by providing their support with restrictions? Would it not be better for me to help them find a way to help themselves? In all of this, I am learning that help is still a word I am trying to define.

As humans we always want, or desire, to help the less fortunate, the down-trodden, the handicapped; the blind, deaf, dumb, or mute. I ask who really are the ones that are handicapped. As I continue to look for answers to who I am, to what I want to be or do, to my life’s purpose, I realize that I may need all of them, more than they need me. Oh yes, I can find ways to show them both the beauty and ugly of human existence, to show them their value and worth in this world. I can teach them how to see, hear, learn, and speak. But, the task they were given, in what they need to teach me, is much more valuable if I am willing to learn.

For it is only when I close my eyes to my exterior and make the attempt to see inward that I truly find the likeness of my creator. It is only when I give silence to the chaos that surrounds me, that I can hear the whispers of my creators likeness directing my every move. It is when I remove all thoughts of my existence and begin in complete and utter darkness and silence that I begin to feel my spirit guide me. And it is when I learn to shut my mouth and listen that I find the guidance that I need to hear. We call this meditation, connecting to our source (to the divine). They are all one step ahead of me when I stop to think about it. So who really needs more help.

I know as I step out more into this world, that I have been afraid of for far too long, that I will need to grapple with the definitions and hypocrisies of words and their uses in our human existence. And my hope is that I truly learn, before I leave my human form, how to love my creator, how to love myself, and how to love my neighbor. For these are what has been asked of me; nothing more – nothing less.

As always, you may be grappling with what I have to say. But, I am waiting for you to join the conversation, and share our existence, when you are ready.