Caring* and sacrifice seem to be the benchmark of Christianity (hypocrisy’s aside)** . When I said in a recent post previously that my attitude and approach and expectation with regard to people throughout my life has been all wrong… When you are at something of a disadvantage socially or otherwise… you looked to people to be more caring and sacrificial – understanding at the very least. You know calm with a stigma around the mentally ill…. The campaign in recent years to try and turn that around. How can you not feel empathy for people who are mentally ill? Mentally challenged? Well guess what, it happens – People coldly, and in some cases, viciously stigmatizing the disadvantaged. While my expectation of others was partially based upon actually based upon a mental or social disadvantage due to trauma for many years in my early childhood. And you know what – I guess the best way I can put it as like this – For a lot of my life I would test people by scratching the surface to see what lie below. And people never fail to fail -it was the easiest thing to do. This last point call, I’ve been making for decades about myself. So my point is this -My personal experience with my fellow human beings is that they are highly limited in their willingness to care, their willingness to sacrifice wilfully. 😔 So when the United States government is handing out billions of dollars of the American peoples money, many of which are complaining about (higher) taxes… Many of the rich constantly trying to avoid paying any whatsoeve; So you know some of them can’t be happy about billions of (tax) dollars flying out of the country.*
*They have done damage control in the NBA by trying to raise the reputation of the typical basketball player. Well just how-do-you-do that? One of the things that seems to stand out are “charitable acts” -Everybody loves a giver right -Everyone loves people who do for children in need right? When the United States starts giving money to other countries in need, and the American people are standing there scratching thscratching their heads 🤔 and wondering why we’re not helping those in need stateside. And the news starts talking about how one selfish and giving the American public is… 🤷♂️🤷🏻♀️
*Caring adds up to 4 things whether people realize them consciously or not:
1. TIME
2. PAIN
3. RISK
4. LOSS
They also add up to these 5 things:
1. A STRONGER SOCIETY IN GENERAL -BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE FOR ALL -IMPROVED RELATIONSHIPS ACROSS THE BOARD -COHESION;
2. MENTAL/SPIRITUAL-HEALTH IMPROVEMENTS ACROSS THE BOARD;
3. IMPROVED SELF-ESTEEM; AND FEELINGS IN GENERAL TOWARDS ONE’S SELF;
4. REDUCED FRICTION BETWEEN THE HAVES AND HAVE-NOTS (Do you realize that perhaps the typical mentality in prison is that of -society doesn’t care). GREATER SENSE OF EQUALITY AMONG ONE ANOTHER;
5. GOD’S BLESSING AS OPPOSED TO HIS DISMAY.
Perhaps 🤔 you may wish to add to either of these lists.
Very few people understand, or even “CARE” to understand THE ENORMOUS BENEFITS OF CARING. GIVING, SACRIFICING!
**In Alcoholics Anonymous, as in religion, I has to learn to separate what the thing itself stood for -from what the individuals presumably representing those things stood for 🤷♂️
Afterthought: Just as you cannot rape the willing (a mortal sin avoided) -You cannot take advantage of the giving; You cannot exploit people who give of their own free will (another sin avoided) “If a man taketh your coat, give him your shirt too” -for he is in need”. My Uncle would constantly tell me I take advantage – Later I came to realize my Uncle was not only not a giver but there is giver but very selfish. My grandmother who raised me was very giving. Prior to prior to living with her, I lived with my aunt and Uncle. In later years I began to ask myself this question, but, if my grandmother was my primary caregiver, and she was very giving, and where did I learn to be so selfish? Looking back, I realized that my whole family on my aunt and uncle’s side are very selfish people -nothing like my grandmother. Am I selfish? I’ll leave that to the people around me to decide