Help? What Is It Anyway?

Help when it is needed is a call for balance
Help, when it is given is an answer to injustice
Help, when it is desired is the banner of humility
Help, when unquestionably extended is the posture of Divinity

What do I do when I am ignorant of what is needed?

I usually just pass over an opportunity to make a miracle, answer a prayer, or even save a life.

At first glance, this question may seem insignificant but can you imagine being in a place where someone had exactly the thing that could change your life. They possessed those critical elements which would help you in establishing a peaceful existence and yet, they offered you nothing. They did this only because you didn’t register in their mind. You weren’t recognized, remembered or even noticed.

You’ve been rescued before, yes? Do you remember what it felt like – to be in a vulnerable place with no hopeful perspective, no obvious path to freedom or prospect of peace? There seems to be agonizing on the inside and in these moments, life doesn’t seem so fair or equitable. You’ve reached for money and come up short. You’ve reached for peace and could not resist the conflict. You’ve reached for joy, but the grief is ever looming. You just wanted a break and found yourself broken. Everything and everyone around you seem to have all of the things they need and some of them have so much they seem to have exactly what you need as well. How did you get left out? Looked over? Passed by?

There's a story of a ‘good Samaritan who helped someone who had been passed over and left multiple times to continue in agony on a country road. The Samaritan’s “good” became extraordinarily emphasized primarily because there were several who passed over the same opportunity and refused to extend help when it was obviously needed. Or maybe it wasn’t so obvious to them. Maybe, just maybe they were distracted by something ‘more’ important. Can you identify with this? Perhaps the quality of your life wasn’t so relevant either. It may have been easy to just ignore you because you were not seen as essential to the prevailing and profitable bottom line. Why would someone just leave you there?

I’ve been there… you’ve been there… we’ve been there.

And when I have been in this place, I didn’t want to talk about my pain or my perceived insufficiency – at least not around some people. Why? Because, in many of those moments, I would feel inadequate, embarrassed, rakishly exposed and sometimes just absolutely foolish. These things just really shouldn’t be. We should not give in to the fear of being helped. We shouldn’t even succumb to the notion of inferiority. Beyond these things, we should never sponsor these paralyzing notions in anyone breathing the very same air which sustains our own vitality.

There are times when we don’t know how to ask for help and then there are times we don’t want to ask. We often think that our asking may contribute to our looking weak. (We do this, you know – make people feel weak when we have a seeming position of power over them.) We have been conditioned to see help, when it is needed as a sign of inferiority and when it is given, as a sign of superiority. Actually it is neither. Help is the manifestation of a shared prosperity. It is the gift we have been given so that we can give again. We like gifts; we even pray for them. I don't know a single person praying, who isn’t reaching for help. How are these prayers answered? Through people like you and people like me – but only if we are wise enough keep the Spirit of Life and Love moving unceasingly through us.

Helping is indeed a miracle and not merely a minor miracle; it is a miracle of Life. It is an act of Love enacted by those who are temporarily stronger for those who are temporarily weaker. And I should note that it is only temporary because once the miracle occurs, it restores balance. There is never a moment in our lives that does not present itself for us to be truly helpful.

Work your miracle in every moment
Bring your help in every hour
Pursue peace with every person
Live to love with every Life.

And remember…

Help when it is needed is a call for balance
Help, when it is given is an answer to injustice
Help, when it is desired is the banner of humility
Help, when unquestionably extended is the posture of Divinity