Reply #40: Yes and No [View All]

[The Straight Story]

I see and understand the difference, I just think the motivation is deeper on all levels. If you see the body as all there is then that is one thing, but if you see the soul as eternal then the picture is different.

The body is here for a mere 70 years average perhaps, so saving that is one thing - but the soul is forever and if you see that as such then delivering aid to both at the same time is beneficial to the person you are helping in more than one way.

Save life and you give a person a few more years, save a soul and you give them an eternity. And if you feel that your belief is true and is able to help a person in the long run, why not use that oppurtunity to do both at the same time?

From a humanist point of view - if you can deliver aid they need (food, etc) why not also deliver mental aid to the person? Myself I had to deal with this of late. The winter storm, power was out, wife and daughter 2000 miles away, mom went back in hospital and died, and I needed more than just heat and food - I needed mental help as well. I needed to hear something positive and good about the world and life.

To some, these people need more than a plate with some food on it, and they think they can give more. A positive message, hope for life and the future, more than they can fit into a tent. It is their way of telling them it will be ok in a broader sense, so they want to share that message.

We may not see that message, or agree with it - but I think, myself, that their desires are more genuine than we often give credit for. Some people have found peace and happiness with something, and they want to share that to aid others while giving them other aid they need. A message they see as peace, forgiveness, and eternal life - something for the soul whilst they feed the body which will pass in due time anyway.

I would like to think if I were there that I would try to pass along something more than food, something that might help them deal with things (and I myself have dealt with a lot over the last month, not just losing mom).

We all have a message we want others to hear, which we think will help them - ala the red states, we think we can help the people there more than bush can. If we can get that message to them we feel it might help them in the long run. To some helping out in disaster areas they think they have a message as well that serves the same purpose - to help.