The Champion Inside

First, congrats and an autographed DVD to Ali W. for her comment on hope.

I am filled with hope when I see the small random acts of kindness performed by everyday people…Their kindness and thought for others gives me hope that the future of mankind and the earth is a good one.

Now Today’s Post:

Regardless of whether you are Christian or not, or even religious at all, everyone knows the story of the Good Samaritan from the Bible. As the parable opens we find a man lying half dead on the side of the road. The first man to come by is a priest. In the social hierarchy of the day a priest is a man who would rank very high. The priest sees the man on the side of the road and understanding his predicament continues on his way.

The second man to come by is a Levite. This is also a man who has an extremely favorable social status. Much like the priest he sees the man in pain and does nothing.

The third and final man to come by is a Samaritan. This is a man who is looked down upon by nearly everybody. He has almost no social status at all. And yet, when this man passes by he makes a decision to act. He puts the half dead man on his animal and takes him to a local inn where he does everything he can to ensure that the man is taken care of, even to the point of making sure that if additional needs arise that they too will be cared for.

At the end of the story we are encouraged to, “Love our neighbor as ourselves.”

As morning comes and we prepare to face each day we think of the tasks that are at hand. We think of the “To Do” lists that we’ve put together and the things on that list that we need to have accomplished. We think of goals that we set for ourselves and what things we can do that day to come closer to achieving those goals. Regardless of whether our day holds large or small things to be done we think about how we can put together our day in such a way that those things can be finished.

We think about the fact that the electric bill needs to be paid and how milk needs to be picked up on the way home from work. We think about the lunch meeting we need to prepare for and how management wants our final report by the end of the day. We think about the activities our children have and how we can arrange for them to have a ride home.

But, in the midst of all this planning and preparation we do for our day do we take time to think about what we can do to help another. For the fact is, that every day as we travel through our tasks we will find people lying “half dead” on the side of the road who need us to take the time to bind their wounds.

Now the chances that we are going to find someone physically beaten are small. But, we will find people emotionally, psychologically and mentally wounded. We can, like the priest and the Levite just pass by hoping that someone else will take care of those in need. Or, we can decide to be like the Samaritan and realize that regardless of what our own status in life is we have a responsibility to care for those around us.

Think for a moment about what our world would look like today if as everyone woke up each day they made a conscious decision to do something to help five people. Think about the millions that would be helped if only a handful of people made that decision. Then think of the people you could influence if you made that decision. If you made the decision to accept this challenge for a week that would mean 35 people helped. If you made the decision to accept this challenge for a month it would mean 150 people influenced. And, if you made the decision to accept this challenge for a year, all on your own you would change the lives of 1,825 people.

The numbers beyond that becomes staggering, and if you begin to think about how your influence would influence others to pitch in and do their part the numbers become astronomical.

But, more than the numbers think about how this kind of help and this kind of influence would make you feel. Think about the difference that would come to your life if every night you could report, “I got my five.”

Jh-