WE HAD IT ALL WRONG!

Isaiah 58. Mainly speaks of giving, giving to the poor, the sick, the tired and hungry and to do all this for the glory of God. Instead we do these things to make ourselves feel better taking away all the glory that is rightfully Gods. We are so prideful that when we do good we boast about it and never humble ourselves, it's sickening! "Your sinful acts have alienated you from God; your sins have caused him to reject you and not to listen to your prayers." -Isaiah 59:2.

Connection and Altruism

March 31, 2010

I

During my sophomore year of college I was enrolled in a social psychology class. One topic we discussed was altruism and whether or not truly altruistic actions exist. An altruistic act is one in which the actor is acting solely for the benefit of another with no concern for his own gratification. So, by definition, a person who gives but does so begrudgingly, is not acting altruistically. Research shows that people reap benefits from helping others in the form of a positive feeling at the very least. Even these are no altruistic actions strictly speaking, because there are rewards resulting from the action. As a class we determined no person acts without any negative or positive reaction.

II

I’m a counselor. Earlier today, one of my clients was describing a positive change she has made: exercising regularly. She talked about the importance of being consistent, because if you miss one day, it makes it easier to miss another.

Ia

I acknowledge that what I do when I feed and spend time the homeless people around Union is far from an altruistic act. So far from it. It even goes at times the point of been selfish.

Ib

I thought today about when Nik and I first began spending time with homeless people. We were so consistent. Rain or shine. Same time, every Wednesday. We went one night, skipped a week, and then went consistently for a long time. But somewhere along the line, we missed a day. I can’t remember why we did the first time. Most likely it had something to do with my work schedule changing or a bike tire being flat or the weather or either of us just not being in the mood for it. I don’t remember. But one time was the first time and now I know I’m not as consistent. I used to have this sense of urgency and responsibility. “They expect us to be there!” But now it seems as if they don’t and I ask myself , “Is it the chicken or egg or some third factor unrelated to farm animals?” Did they stop expecting us because we became unpredictable? Or have they just been harder to find because of police crackdown? Have I become even less consistent because it’s becoming harder and harder to find them?

III

Today I have allergies, work was fine, but when I came home (I rode my bike to work) I found that my car window had been smashed and a bunch of cds were taken. I was frustrated, irritated, and sad. Mad at humanity. Why do people do stuff like that? I was so close to using this as an excuse for not meeting with the homeless, and then I thought about when my client said about exercise. Where did my passion for these people go? Are the few, sometimes 0, homeless people that I run into while I’m out not precious enough to keep me going? Is that pretty lame excuse that has nothing to do with whether or not I can actually go enough to make me decide I won’t?

So I went out of a sense of responsibility, duty, but not begrudgingly, and to avoid feeling like I had used an excuse to get out of something. Is avoiding a negative feeling considered a reward? So I may or may not have gone out today with altruistic intentions.

This quickly changed when my reward appeared. John. I haven’t seen John in months, but I think about him often and wonder where and how he is. I was practically jumping up and down when I saw him across the street. I was ready to chase him if he didn’t end up walking in my direction, but he did and I waited like a happy puppy behind a fence till he got to my side. As he talked, I soaked him in.

My friend Chris went with me and he shared a delicious sandwich with John and words of comfort and understanding for which John was so thankful. John blindly opened up the Bible to the first chapter of Isaiah and asked me to read it. He said he needed to hear it from me. He couldn’t have read it himself. Not because he couldn’t read but because he needed to hear it from my mouth.

So we all soaked each other up. No altruism whatsoever, I guess, because we were all rewarded on so may levels.

If I hadn’t had made up my mind to set aside my perfectly acceptable but literally bogus excuse, who knows how many more months I would have had to wait to see John.