Twist the Roles

"My sister was rescued from a ditch.  Her bus crashed while crossing over a bridge in Cameroon, Africa. She was going there to help teach and ended up being pulled from death by a kind stranger who happened to be traveling behind the bus.  I will never forget how quickly she went from being there as a helper to desperately needing the help of others." 

FIND YOUR WAY HOME
by the Women of Magdalene
with Becca Stevens

There is a rhythm to life of giving and taking, of offering and receiving, and of gain and loss.  There is an unseen grid to life loosely overseeing the balance and projecting love.  These things I do believe.

It is of interest to me when I come across a true story of someone who believes they are going to assist a person in need, but in the end they are the person who gathers the most.  It is in our giving or intention of sharing that often times twists the roles between the helper and the one to be assisted.  It is in the giving that we often unexpectedly receive.

So it is not only with our intention, but with opening our hearts to be vulnerable, to recognize an opportunity to provide a need to someone with no strings attached.  It is noticing a person whether wealthy or poor who finds themselves unable to meet there immediate need.  We often react without even thinking about what we can do and sometimes even endanger ourselves.  There seems to be a recognition of human being to human being. 

Just recently I read a story about a women who was very unsettled in her life, so she decided to go a foreign country to 'save' the suffering from a small town.  She felt enthusiasm for her new calling of being a person of 'rescue'.  And of course, the people of the impoverished town, taught her an appreciation for basic life without attachments to material things and status.  She made one trip back to her home to settle her business affairs, quit her job, and lease her apartment.  She donated the majority of her belongings and permanently returned to the small foreign town that provided her with acceptance, peace, calm, and connection with Divine Spirit she had always desired.

The concept of being a verb rather than a noun appeals to me.  If we are living life as a noun, we are stationary and waiting for life to happen to us, for God to come into our lives.  If we practice being a verb, Divine Spirit can move us into situations offering experiences to deepen our existence and the existence of others.  We must open ourselves by being aware of the needs of others and provide what we can, as we never know when we may need a reaching hand.