Meditation for 1/9/14

Seabrook Island; SC

“A friend in need is a friend indeed.”  -  Quintus Ennius

“The antidote for fifty enemies is one true friend.”  -  Aristotle

     I was told of an incident that occurred in an exclusive gated community a while back.  It seems one of the residents had fallen on hard times – the business life had taken a down-turn and the spouse had bailed with most of the money.  A back injury brought a doctor that liberally prescribed opiates into the scene – and facing the loss of all that seemed to matter the fellow fell into despondency and was drinking heavily.  One night he was in unusually deep despair and told someone on the phone he was thinking about hurting himself.  Well, the local police were called and reacted in cowboy style – they sent out a SWAT team.  The fellow was checked into a local hospital and detoxed off of the heavy prescription opiates and today once again leads a useful life.

     But the story is about a meeting of the home-owners association that was called.  Was the discussion to try to find a solution for the struggling neighbor or to see who could pitch in and help care for the house while he was in the hospital?  Nope.  It was to try to figure out a way to get him kicked out of the community.  There was anger when the board was told by an “expert” that as long as he was paying his home-owners dues and following the rules imposed by the association they could not evict him.

     Now, sharks, rats, baboons, spiders and a few other critters eat their young.  There are a few types, like jackals, that will attack a wounded pack member.  But for the most part even primitive animals take care of their own kind when they are wounded.  Now that all people treat similar situations this way – there are many attuned to the needs of their fellows, indeed some devote their whole life to helping others.  But how often do we see a work situation or a neighborhood situation where someone is struggling to cope and is branded as an “outcast?”  Often there is intense peer pressure for everyone to cooperate in shunning them.  I cannot think of a better way to describe this than cannibalism – a perverse and barbaric behavior where one feeds upon the weak of their own kind.

     These situations are opportunities to be of great service.  If we are mature enough to not base our self-worth on the opinions of others, we are in a position to have the clarity of mind to act compassionately.  Sometimes the situation is more benign – someone has just started a new job and is struggling to adapt or is new to the area and everything is foreign to them. Perhaps their skin color, culture or social norms differ from the mainstream.  Regardless of the cause, in every one of these situations we have an opportunity to quietly be of service, to help the person overcome obstacles and integrate themselves.  And in return we will find we have developed life-long friendships of a much higher quality than the superficial ones we think we have with those who are pressuring us.  One day it just might be our turn in one of life’s rock crushing juggernauts, and we already know who will try to consume us.  Today we can choose to not engage in spiritual cannibalism.  And we can rest assured that the discomfort we feel by stepping outside the “norm” will be richly rewarded down the road.

Today, may I be attuned.

Have a great Thursday

David

(Re the photo - every once in a while the birds actually do listen to me and fly into the picture frame !!)

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