Humility
“This
feeling of specialness or superiority inflates the ego and feeds it with pride…The
sooner one develops compassion in this journey, the better. Compassion lets us
appreciate that each individual is doing what he or she must do, and that there
is no reason to judge another person or oneself. Merely do what you can to
further your own awakening.”
Ram
Dass (Journey of Awakening, p.155)
Watching
the news last night, I was filled with compassion for a woman in Louisiana whose
home had been swept away by hurricane Laura. She was appealing for help,
saying that she and others in her down-trodden neighborhood had very few
resources and nowhere to go. We tend to forget that in America, there are
people who do not have even their basic needs met. We are so focused on
celebrity and wealth in this country, that we overlook the people who are in
real need. The woman on the news was not blaming anyone, she was not demanding
anything, she was simply humble enough to ask for help.
While I
am tempted to feel “sorry” for her, I think that is a mistake. Compassion, yes,
simply because a fellow human being in this rich country of mega-mansions and
gated communities, must ask for help with food, clothing, and shelter. She faced
a national news camera (something I would never do) and humbled herself enough
to say, “we need help here,” without outrage or pathos. Thinking about it, I
don’t believe she’s anyone I should feel sorry for. She had humility, but she
also had her community around her. Their neighborhood was flattened beyond recognition,
but they had each other and the ego strength to stand their ground and speak
their need. I saw a dignity in that impoverished woman that is uncommon in the
circles of the rich and powerful. What I felt for her was respect.
There’s
an upside-down moral compass in this world when the only people we admire are
rich beyond reason and prideful about it. People who flaunt their cash flow in
lavish lifestyles and do nothing to help the poor nor share their fortunes by
contributing to good and worthy causes. It says a lot about them, yes, but it
also says something about us and our values.
To me,
compassion is the opposite of callousness. It is to feel empathy, rather than
pity. It is to understand at a cellular level that “but for the grace of God” I
am interchangeable with anyone else on this planet. Humility, and not superiority,
is the result. That woman I watched on the news is not to be pitied. She knows
more about life than most of us. Including me.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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