==================================================
For years I have heard people say that noone can help another .... that they have to do it themselves. There is truth to that when someone has a personal problem within themselves, but when the problem is in regards to conditions and not the person or persons involved, that isn't so. If someone is drowning and cannot swim, more often than not, someone else can help them get back to safety, or at least they can try, or call for assistance. Clearly the drowning person isn't in a position to do that. Even if they are a good swimmer, if the water is turbulent, they will drown without assistance. If you don't believe you can save them yourself, you can still do something to try and save them. You need not jump into the water yourself if you feel that would put yourself in peril, but you can do something.
I do not know how people can stand by and watch and do nothing, or walk away and pretend they didn't see someone drowning and say, "It's not MY problem".
Yet, I have seen people do this time and again, even saying it was their own fault for getting in that position.
There are those who are foolish or reckless or who otherwise DO cause their own problems, (and in truth, we all do that at some time or other in the course of our lives, though some seem to make a career of it) and there are some who will only go and do something to get themselves into a bad situation again by not thinking ahead, or taking precautions or being reckless, but there are many who do all any person can do to do the right things and stilll end up in perilous situations. Accidents happen, and people get pushed by one thing or another, or tricked into something believing it is good by someone who knows how to make something bad look good. It's fine to say they should have known better, or that they must have had a feeling something was amiss and shouldn't have fallen for it, but I don't know of anyone who hasn't been sold something they later wished they had not bought, or done.
All life is a learning experience, and is it right to let someone drown because of some mistake they've made, no matter what the cause of it may be? Children would never make it to adulthood if that is so.
If a child doesn't heed a parent's advice and is reckless on a swing and falls off, should he never go on a swing again? Should the parent simply walk away and leave them laying there? Of course not. But there are some who do desert their children, and then others then come to their aid.
But as adults, we must rely on other people, and not just our parents, for assistance. If that were not so, we would have no police or firemen and doctors and a host of others who make it their life work to save other people and assist them. yet, there is a limit as to what they can do. If someone is in a bad situation, they may be able to make a call themselves, but not always. Assistance oftentimes must come from other indivuals... such as one who sees a drowning person and knows there is no time to waste calling for help, or who at least calls 911.
I would not expect someone who doesn't know what to do to assist someone who has an addiction to go and try to help them get a cure for it, but perhaps they know where to call, or where they might find that assistance. But that is a personal problem. One in the individual.
But there are good people who have problems where others can assist them in some way, and don't offer anything... not even a kind word. Not all problems are our our own making.
If you have never been in a certain town before, for instance, and you find yourself in a bad part of town because you made a wrong turn is that "your fault"? If you are trying to find your way back to where you want and need to be is it wrong to ask for assistance in getting there? It's not like you're asking someone to drive your car for you... just to get the assistance you require to get back to where you want to be.... If you run out of gasoline while trying to find your way back to where you need to be, is it too much to ask for someone tell you where you can get some?
If you know a neighbor's situation has changed dramatically due to a job loss, or divorce, or illness, is it too much for you to taken them a bag of food, or to give them something you believe will make things a bit easier for them? If they are a neighbor you should know if they are good people going though a difficult time, and not people who aren't even trying and who will take advantage, even if you merely know who they are. Even a bag of food placed on the doorstep or something you believe they can really use here and now, would be a blessing. You might not be able to do do more than that, but it's better than nothing, because they will know someone cares and it will fill a need here and now. It may be that they can buy their own food but can't get to the store for one reason or another.
There are so many variables and reasons why such simple things as this aren't so simple for some people. It's true that here are those even with disabilities who prefer to do things for themselves.. but does it hurt you to ask if they seem to be having difficulty and you are right there and in a position to offer assistance?
People make all sorts of excuses and give all sorts of reasons why not to assist another. It's not like we have to go out of our way to assist people we sence will pose some kind of problem if we get near them... but there are plenty of people who won't. You don't have to make it a regular thing if you're not in the position to, but even once is better than nothing at all. You might not want to have a homeless stranger come to your house for supper, but that's no reason why you can't direct them to the nearest food kitchen... but all too often it's not total strangers who need assistance and are shunned or ignored by people who know they are simply going through a bad time. If they are a neighbor, no doubt you have been able to observe them for a while, and perhaps spoken to them at a school, church, park or some such place.
Noone who gives and noone who takes a gift like that from another is under any obligation to the other. It is a matter of fear, pride or selfishness that would stand in the way of someone who needs and someone who can provide something. If you can't provide something tangible, at least you can offer a kind word. Generally speaking, there is nothing that means more when someone is going through a bad time.. and they might well have so much to handle that that really is all they have time for.
There are many stories written about people who seem to be what might be called " the dregs of the earth" who really are far from it but due to sudden adverse circumstances have taken on that appearance. but then I have heard people say that they might be desperate and therefore dangerous to get near. Well, nothing makes a person more desperate than to feel that noone notices or cares, and noone will even offer them assistance of the simplist kind.
Jesus was a condemmed man carrying his cross and others watched and did nothing but there was one woman who offered him a drink of water. Would you do that much?
Noone knows what they or their loved ones may yet go through in the course of a lifetime. There have been many people who were doing well today, and who had good credit and money saved, and never thought it would happen to them, only to find themselves on the poverty list tomorrow tomorrow because they lost their job through no fault of their own. And the numbers are growing.
It's easy to blame someone in government, or even the person who is now struggling for survival, but it's so easy to say that someone else should do something about it, while you sit there and simply point an accusing finger, debate issues and do little else.
There are many people who would like to do away with the welfare system, but once people are born into this world there are few options, because people have to eat, and have a place to live. If you put them in prison you are paying for them too. If you think there are enough jobs to go around and that they can work as many as needed to pay their own way, that's an excuse to do nothing. Perhaps you would prefer they die in the street, or in the park where you take your kids to play, or in front of the grocery store where you shop, and pay crews to tote them away to mass graves.... perhaps even you or your own children in time... or maybe we should just parade them all out the warf and put them on a garbage scow and dump them into the ocean...
And as rude as this may sound, I really don't mean it to be offensive, but, among them may be the child born because a young woman wouldn't take precautions, or resort to the " morning after pill", for religious reasons... so think twice about that being an option...... although I would also like to point out that an Angel of the Lord has told Mary that she would bear a son who would be Christ, the Lord... so unless you've had a Holy Messenger appear to you like that, you are probably not pregnant with the Savior, and if you can't afford to provide for them here and now, I wouldn't necessarily rely on God to provide, because I haven't seen him feeding most of the people of the world with manna lately, even if He does do it tomorrow...
Although I don't understand how can it be okay for teens to bring forth a child and the expect the welfare to provide for them, if you do away with welfare and what happens to these babies who are born into the world? Is it right to let them be born and then just let them die? not only would that be cruel and inhuman, but I'd venture to say that the jails and courts would be filled with people brought up on manslaughter charges ...
Where are all these teen pregnancies coming from, for that matter? Not more than 50 years ago there were very few of them and those who bore children out of wedlock, especially teens, were shunned, bigtime! Today it's accepted as if it's nothing more than getting a speeding ticket... in fact, a DWI, or smoking cigarettes will cause you to be looked down on more. If you keep the baby, you are a hero or something...
Perhaps they should be fined for it, but then again, they couldn't pay, so for every teenager who ends up pregnant, and whose parents can't afford to meet all the needs,, I have to pay to provide for them and I don't have a say in it in any way at all. If a human life is so precious, how about the human lives that are suffering for being born into this world and not having their needs met?
Is it worse if it happens to an American baby instead of one of another nationality? Is it excuseable or permissable to have a baby and be on welfare because you had a child in your teens and your parents have always worked and earned well, and your family came here with the pilgrims? Why? And for that matter...if not... why not?
I don't like the fact that there are many people milking the systems either, but it's not the little guy, the drug addict, or whatever, who has out-sourced the jobs, raised the cost of housing, medical and food, or who allows illegal aliens to enter the country and stay here, getting into the welfare system. Our government allows that... but even aside from that, if you believe in God, perhaps there is a bigger reason for it than we know... and it might well be beneficial in the future, or that might be part of a bigger plan as far as our government is concerned as well, else why do they allow it?
If you work, and/or own a house but most of what you own is actually on credit, are you really the salt of the earth you claim to be? Do you pay off the balance or apply for MORE credit? You may pay a lot for medical insurance but does what you pay in actually cover the cost of all your medical bills for the course of your lifetime, or are you relying on the insurance companies to pay a sizeable portion of it... If you and a bunch of other people make a lot of claims do they only raise yours and theirs, or does everyone else pay more too?
Oh, but this isn't the same as welfare...WHY? ... because it's under a different name and system...like a cat is a cat and a dog is a dog so they have nothing in common? They live in your house, you have to feed them, clean up after them, and cats go to the same vet as a dog, and vice versa, they're not humans, but they have rights, and they are both pets, only dogs need to be licensed and cats usually don't have to be. So, aside from one being a cat and the other a dog, and different species, as far as their expenses and tending how does one differ from the other? Catfood costs more than dog food, but dogs needs heartworm medicine... Cats need litter boxes and dogs need to be licensed... uh huh... but... where is the REAL difference when it comes to their needs and the cost of keeping them? They are only smelly animals, but cat owners love their cats and dog owners love their dogs and where would we be without them as a whole? Life would be lonelier and less meaningful indeed for those who love them... and while the owners pay to keep their pets, hopefully for a lifetime, they don't pay and tend to all the strays that are out there... Perhaps we should have done away with all of them while we had the chance?
You know, I haven't been to New York City in 15 years, but I still have to pay the MTA surcharge ... to which some have said " Like it or leave..." yeah... nice... born and raised here, ancestors too... so much for Rights as an AMERICAN then huh?
Of course, I have to vote that out... uh huh... I can vote for someone who is for something I want and also for something else I deem totally intolerable who is running against someone else who has the roles reversed, so... what's your point... if you are one of them who blames the current President today and tells me that if I'm not happy with the way the country is run, vote him out...well... Others I didn't like were voted out, and someone else took over, and it might make a difference somewhere but it hasn't made my life any better... so what's your point?
WE THE PEOPLE is you and me... and you and me united... not you and me on opposite sides. This is AMERICA not a football game. If WE THE PEOPLE don't stand UNITED and help one another, and teach one another, and think ahead to try and foresee the consequences for our actions not only on ourselves but others around us, and see something of ourselves in every person we meet, then we won't be diversified and strong in our diversity, but divided and scattered like a stone wall that has fallen into disrepair and is now just a pile of rubble... GOD BLESS AMERICANS TO DO UNTO OTHERS AS WE WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO US...
If we can love our non-human companions, surely we should be able to bridge our own differences with LOVE and mutual respect as well...
=================================================
*If you think I'm amiss, I'm willing to listen for new perspectives and insights I may not be aware of... feel free to comment...
