compassion

Sunset in Bonne Terre, MO

“You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end, each of us must work for his own improvement and, at the same time, share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular being to aid those to whom we think we can be most useful.” – Marie Curie

Have we built a better world? Does the present generation value human life as much as we did 50 years ago? Have we become a society of instant gratification? Last but not least, are we improving as individuals and what is considered improvement?

A better world? If we look at it from a technological point I would say that we have somewhat built a better world. When I was a kid growing up I had the pleasure to be a part of the party line. You just haven’t lived unless you have partook of the party line. When the phone rang you had to count the rings so you knew if it was a call for you or not. Ours at the time was three ringy dingies. We have come a long way for sure technically speaking. There have been a lot of advancements in technology. Advance in humanity not so much.

“If you truly believe in the value of life, you care about all of the weakest and most vulnerable members of society.” – Joni Eareckson Tada

Value of Human Life? First of all how do you put a value on a life? I have to admit that I am quite perplexed by the way young people seem to not value life as much as my friends and I did when we were their age. Now before you call me all those juicy names I am not saying that everyone in that generation is like that. There are exceptions to every rule. I can not figure out what happened. Bad parenting? Should they have been taught that there are winners and losers and life isn’t always so good to you and…………..and…………….and just maybe they should have been taught what respect is. Bullying seems to be a bigger problem than ever. We had our share of bullying however social media has given these folks a heartless. vengeful vehicle of mass bullying and there are those who have even died from the abuse of it.

“Why are young adults so self-centered and always seeking instant gratification? Because older adults, often positions of power, paint them that way.” – Raymond Arroyo

Instant gratification? During my years of childhood folks would actually save up and pay cash. What a novel idea. My oh my! Wonder what would happen to credit card companies today if John Q Public started doing that? Sad thing is that we stand back and let credit card companies set them up for failure when they are young adults just starting college. Then our government does nothing to reign these companies in and keep them from preying on them. They borrow money at 2 to 3 percent then when they get behind they charge late fees and jack the interest rate up to 26 percent. Where is the humanity in taking advantage of these folks to increase their profits?

I don’t know that we have improved as individuals. It seems every year that compassion and humanity is pushed to the back burner replaced by greed and personal gratification. Our own government seems to lack in humanity. They are fueled by greed which leads to corruption. At this very moment they are playing with individual’s lives through health care. Every time they pass one they exempt themselves from it. They play favorites to their campaign supporters at the expense of the people they are supposed to represent. They always manage to place the bulk of financial burden for their programs on the backs of the middle class. They have robbed social security and they didn’t put a dime into it. At this very moment their are families in my area who are trying to recover from floods 15 months apart. After they gave the go ahead to build levees that has made the flooding worse their only answer to the problem is a buy out of property. How do you buyout places like Valley Mount Ranch and Krause Farms that have been in the family since the 30s? They don’t deserve this. How about some real humanitarian efforts to help these families out?

Sorry for the rant but it seems that humanity is the thing of the past and has been replaced by greed. Thanks for reading my blog. I know it was a little long and I apologize. Be kind to one another, share the love and don’t squat with your spurs on.

“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.” – Dalai Lama

As I lay here listening to the hum of the fan in the window and the little peepers off in the distance serenading the night, my mind wanders back to the teen age years of my life. It was a simple time. Life was good.

School was much different because the parents didn’t blame the teacher for little Johnny’s behavior or grades. The responsibility was placed squarely on the shoulders of little Johnny and he didn’t get a trophy unless he earned it. “Earned it.” Isn’t that quite a concept? When did it all change? For the life of me I can’t remember. Why? I was told one time by a child psychologist that it was done out of compassion for the losers. Really?

Unlike today, kids could stay out past dark and not have to worry. They could walk down to the local grocery and buy a gallon of milk and walk home without having to worry about being abducted. Don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t a perfect world but there seemed to be a lot less crime then. The real question is why? Was it due to the way the news was reported or was there more love and compassion then?

From my personal experience I believe it was the latter. People had more respect for life then. Folks helped one another then instead of turning a cold shoulder and walking away. They shared food, clothes or whatever they could. Not everybody did but the majority of the people I knew did.

“Being loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” – Lao Tzu

Something that I don’t see too much of these days is respect. I am blown away by the way children talk to their parents. They use words that they shouldn’t even have in their vocabulary. Words that would make a sailor blush I tells ya. See a lot more tantrums being thrown in the stores when the child doesn’t get what he/she wants. This usually results in the child getting what he/she wants. Sooooo is he/she going to throw a tantrum when they don’t get their way in the work force?

“The purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others.” – Albert Schweitzer

Compassion according to Merriam Webster: sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it. I am of the opinion that “true” compassion is hard to find in today’s society. What about the donations that went out to the 9/11 victims you say? Really? Myself I really don’t think of that as compassion. I felt it was more people expressing their patriotism than anything else.

Maybe I just expect too much out of people. Maybe I am still caught up in the simplicity of life in the 60s and 70s. I still have the vision of our family dinners where we actually talked to one another and asked how our day had been. Compassion and love were abundant. The world wasn’t perfect back then but it was far closer to perfection than it is now. Maybe new technology was the trade off. “Pappa tell me ’bout the good ole days.

Well thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I hope you enjoyed it. Love one another and remember the feeling of compassion and don’t be afraid to show it.

Don’t squat with your spurs, be kind to one another and share the love. God bless you one and all.

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