Life - Be Involved (Updated from 6/3/2014)

 

Involved: Having a part in something: being included in something; actively participating in something; having a romantic or sexual relationship.

Be involved in life! And you say, "I am." You golf, hike, fish, and garden, right? But, are you truly involved with life? Are you paying attention to life around you, or are you just performing a sport, a task, romance, or sex?  Are you simply performing, or are you involved?

Example:  On the second day of my trip to Mississippi, as early evening was falling in the mountains, I happened upon a pretty brutal auto accident miles from medical help.  Luckily, it happened in a small town. There was a fire truck already onsite.  A volunteer fireman was directing traffic.  I pulled off to see if there was something I could assist with.  What in God's name did I think I could do?  

Be involved.

I could have driven by to facilitate the volunteer firemen doing their job.  I could have driven passed and not been involved.  I could have looked the other way, except, perhaps, as an anecdotal piece of fluff to color the tales of my trip.  Or, I could do the right thing.

Being a minister, I could see if the victim required "spiritual" help.  I never used to think of such things.  I have come to understand my worse fear: Dying alone.  But, there were firemen onsite, you say.  Not the same as being with this person as they waited for the ambulance... or death.  People want to feel the hand holding theirs is doing more than going through the motions.  Could I have performed the last rites?  If need be, I could have prayed with them, blessed them, and helped them pass through.  It's more than one could have expected, considering where we were.  As it turns out, a young lady was pinned in the vehicle and needed to be extricated.  I don't think I could have performed an extrication. An exorcism, maybe, but not an extrication.

I was happy I wasn't needed, as this sort of thing is out of my comfort zone.  I couldn't have done what was needed. I have a real problem with empathy.  I feel another person's pain just by looking at them, much less holding their hand, so maintaining composure would be the hard part.  God forbid I see people at death's door.  The waterworks begin with the loss of life. 

The point I'm trying to make here is that I was ready and willing to be involved... in life.  As much as death is a part of life, life is a part of death.

It wasn't minutes further down the highway, when I saw a train moving through the shadows of the mountain as the CD player began Alison Krauss softly singing a bluegrass spiritual:

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kv3WSrZ-9bM&feature=kp}

"A Living Prayer"

In this world, I walk alone with no place to call my home

But there's one who holds my hand

The rugged road through barren lands

The way is dark, the road is steep

But He's become my eyes to see

The strength to climb, my griefs to bear

The Savior lives inside me there

In your love I find release

A haven from my unbelief

Take my life and let me be

A living prayer my God to thee

In these trials of life, I find

Another voice inside my mind

He comforts me and bids me live

Inside the love the Father gives

In your love I find release

A haven from my unbelief

Take my life and let me be

A living prayer my God to thee

take my life and let me be

A living prayer my God to thee 

My mind went to an image of the "long, black train." It would be denied a passenger this day.

I smiled.

Sometimes, it isn't enough to just see something.  Sometimes, life requires you to be involved.  Sometimes, God requires that we do our jobs as each other's keepers.  Sometimes we need to take a knee and talk to the person in a wheelchair, the physically or mentally handicapped, or the elderly.  We should involve ourselves in assisting those around us in loading a vehicle.  We can take a grocery cart back inside the store for someone or pick them up when they fall.  We can buy a crying child a fifty-cent balloon, even if the child isn't ours. We can ask a crying man what his issue is.  

It's not enough to just sit on the sidelines and gawk. As humans, it is incumbent upon us to constantly be involved in the life we are witnessing.

“I’ve come to think that flourishing consists of putting yourself in situations in which you lose self-consciousness and become fused with other people, experiences, or tasks. It happens sometimes when you are lost in a hard challenge, or when an artist or a craftsman becomes one with the brush or the tool. It happens sometimes while you’re playing sports, or listening to music, or lost in a story, or to some people when they feel enveloped by God’s love. And it happens most when we connect with other people. I’ve come to think that happiness isn’t really produced by conscious accomplishments. Happiness is a measure of how thickly the unconscious parts of our minds are intertwined with other people and with activities. Happiness is determined by how much information and affection flows through us covertly every day and year.”

-- David Brooks

Editor's Note

(Re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch - it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either view any more right or wrong than the other. Opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form their own opinions if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider an alternate viewpoint.

I fervently hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and while engaging in peaceful and constructive discussion, in an arena of mutual respect, concerning those opinions offered. After over twenty years of military intelligence, I believe that engaging each other in this manner, and in this arena, is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience... and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. Following his service career, he spent 17 years working with the premier and world-renowned Western Institutional Review Board, helping to protect the rights of human subjects involved in pharmaceutical research. He also served 8 years on the Board of Directors for the Angela J. Bowen Foundation.

Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As a weapon for his war on intolerance... he chose the pen. He wages his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's personal, spiritual path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteered as the lead chaplain at a regional medical center. 

Feel free to contact Pastor Tony at: tolerantpastor@gmail.com