THERE IS NO RESCUE PARTY OUT LOOKING FOR YOU!

THE RISE IN CRIPPLED PERSONALITIES

“This is the true joy in life, being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one, being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy."

George Bernard Shaw

 

I can remember the spot and the year that it finally hit me that there was "no rescue party out looking for me!" Until then, I had become a master of whining and blaming and waiting for some rescue party to show up and save me from my situation. It truly was a moment of grace. It was a life-changing "wake up call" that motivated me to become my own personal life coach and personal spiritual director. Hardly a day goes by that I don't thank God for that moment of grace. Looking back at that day, and what has happened since, has left me "simply amazed and forever grateful!" 

There are many people who truly need help and we should do everything in our power to help them. There are many people  who simply need to be given an opportunity to help themselves and we should help them find that opportunity. Sadly, there are still some people in our culture who "want to be taken care of" when they are perfectly capable of "self-help." Some of them have been pampered, protected and spoiled until their personalities are stunted and starved.  Able to walk, they want to be carried. In those cases, when we carry them instead of challenging them to get up and walk, we actually help "cripple" them even more! With that said, I absolutely disagree with those self-serving persons who conveniently perpetuate the myth that a majority of our citizens these days fall into this category! Some of them use their accusations and condemnations as a screen to hide the fact that they are abusing the very same system on a much larger scale to even more deceptively advance and enrich themselves! I consider them the worst of the wolves in sheep's clothing! I may be dismissed as gullible, but I still believe that most people are doing the best they can and crave encouragement even more than help.  

 

I have dedicated myself to one of the "helping professions," priesthood, but I have resisted the idea that I have been called to be "holy" for other people. Rather, I have insisted on creating a life of trying to lead and empower others to seek their own "holiness." I am irritated most when people tell me they have given up their spiritual searches and religious practices because spiritual leaders like me are not perfect! They are the ones, to paraphrase Shaw, who have become 'feverish, selfish little clods of ailments and grievances, complaining that others will not devote themselves to being holy for them!' We are meant to encourage each other and inspire each other on our spiritual journeys, not to be "stand-ins" for others' spiritual journeys! As the Kingston Trio used to sing, "I gotta walk that lonesome valley. I got to walk it by myself. Oh, nobody else can walk it for me. I got to walk it by myself."  

Come on, people! "Be a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy."  Remember this! "There is no rescue party out looking for you!"  Get up and get on with taking as much personal responsibility as possible!