The other day I read a post on a well-known social media site that said, by removing the suffering of others, we take away their opportunity to grow... What kind of crap is that! It is the kind of crap that pseudo-intellectuals buy into. The real intellectuals behind this kind of reasoning are motivated by ideology, an ideology that promotes greed and selfishness. Manipulating people into believing that by helping they are somehow harming, allows the "pseudos" to feel good about their own selfishness. It gives them an "out."
If you remove a child from an abusive situation, are you taking away their opportunity to grow? If you provide food assistance to the hungry, are you taking away their opportunity to grow? No, you are LOVING them in the way that God does.
I grew up in a working class household. We rarely had money for stylish clothes, the latest stuff or fancy cars. We bought the practical, stripped down models, whether it was cars, clothes, shoes or entertainment. We got the encyclopedias that were offered through a grocery store promotion... We weren't "under-privileged," however we were never members of a Country Club. The Country Club kids grew up at the "Club," and so it feels completely natural for them to be among the rich, powerful and influential. That is their life experience, to be accepted. They have absorbed all of the little nuances of that lifestyle, along with all the confidence necessary to succeed at that level. They couldn't imagine and wouldn't settle for anything less! I, however, after college and a life full of travel, knowledge and other experiences, still don't feel quite comfortable in the "Country Club" environment. There are subtleties that I missed growing up. This is similar to growing up speaking a foreign language. Learning later in life to speak English, or whatever the language in your new country (environment), almost always results in speaking with an accent. That's how it is for me. I am successful, but I still have an "accent" showing I wasn't born to wealth...
Now, imagine for a moment that you grew up in an inner city ghetto where you never knew ANYONE who had a job. Nobody in your own family ever experienced more than a minimum wage, day laborer type existence. Nobody went to college, most never finished high school. Imagine you never saw anybody read, or exhibit any appreciation for knowledge or learning. Imagine that the only way you ever saw anyone succeed was through selling drugs, pimping, or the rare opportunity offered by professional sports. Imagine further that your family never had enough to eat, often had to choose between medicine and food, or medicine and rent, or rent and food. Imagine nobody you knew owned a car... Now imagine you are walking into a place of business to get a job. You've never seen anyone fill in a job aplication, never mind done it yourself. Imagine you have never heard anyone speak in a professional voice. Imagine you don't read very well, since you have had to skip school often to watch your younger siblings, when your one parent found a day's pay somewhere, or your grandmother was sick and needed help. Since you have never seen anyone go to an interview wearing a shirt and tie, nice slacks and shined shoes, how would you know to do so?
Can someone tell me please how removing this kind of suffering is taking the opportunity to grow away from an individual, when the experience of growth, and even the awareness of growth, is a mystery? How in God's name can giving to a person in these circumstances be taking away their opportunity to grow?
BUT, that's exactly what the ideologues, administering this kind of tripe would have you believe. For they do not want to treat ALL as God's children, that would mean sharing. They would have you believe you are superior to those who don't succeed. "If you don't succeed in America, it's your own fault!" What lies... Did Jesus divvy up the loaves and fishes according to some ideologically based value system? No. He gave equally to all. He NEVER even have considered, that removing someone's suffering was taking away their opportunity to grow.
Today, reject the ideology that provides you with caveats to giving LOVE. Don't be manipulated. Don't hold others in judgment. Peaceful, enlightened people have perfect love within them, as do we all. The only difference between them and US, is they have nothing else within them.
Duffy
No comments:
Post a Comment