So many people in today’s society are on autopilot. We don’t care what goes on around us, we don’t care that the guy beside us is stealing, cheating on his family, or hurting our neighbor… just as long as we are “comfortable” we don’t care! Well let me tell you something about being comfortable, and being on autopilot…

Someone I know is NOT on autopilot. They are not just comfortable with the way things are. They see someone doing “no good” and they are on it! I just can’t muster the respect for someone who can watch something terrible happen. And I’ll give you a good example– the Penn State ordeal. Why didn’t he lay that guy out in the floor and protect the kid?? Aren’t the moral boundaries this country was founded on, those of our Father and Creator, more important than the job he so shortly held as coach of a sports team? Apparently NOT!

And what about the teacher, the preacher, the coach, the cop, the one who deals with people in less desirable situations who tries to do the right thing. There are so few of them, and only a percentage of those people listed care enough to do something when they are off-duty! This is mind boggling to me except that I can understand the complacency.

I can understand being comfortable where you are and feeling like there’s nothing better. We often forget things are going to hell in a handbasket around us when things for us are just fine. I applaud and appreciate those willing to do the research, serve the service, stick their necks out on the line, and give something of themselves for the rest of us who can’t seem to appreciate what it is that makes this country great…

What is that?

It’s the willingness of us, as citizens and normal everyday people, to choose an occupation or service — whether police officer, fireman, teacher, etc — that puts us in the middle of people who need the real help. And without offering a handout, help them to actually become better people! This is so rare, since, most people are fine with a handout (it doesn’t require any work!) and don’t care about the people who surround us as our neighbors.

Let’s get to the bottom of this. People around you right now are hurting. Look at the guy/gal to the left, and the right, and in front/back of you… they have some sort of conflict in their life that you can help resolve. The difference is… what are you going to do about it!?

For most people, myself included for a long time until I took this realization… NOTHING! We just want to cruise on autopilot and be left alone. We don’t want to have to help our neighbor. We don’t want to watch someone suffer. But even if we do, we don’t want to have to help. If someone forces us to we will. That’s what’s wrong with us!

Help your neighbor. Reach out to them, and see what you can do to help. God shows us a better life in the Bible where we share the love He shared with us by helping others in their time of most desperate need. Instead of just watching the calamity, we need to put our hands out in an overwhelming love of mercy…. no matter what the other person has done! We seem to only want to thing of what’s going on in our lives as how it benefits us. Let me tell you, if you only see that side then you are a sad person indeed! Because God has given us so much to appreciate! There is so much to enjoy until our time in heaven when we will have full understanding. Until then, we must project the love God has for us onto other people.

If you don’t know about this love, please contact an outreach minister near you. I would love to help in any way I can, but I am only a student. Jesus really showed us a way to live a peaceful life; and if the world were to adhere to the practices of Jesus, conflict would not be an issue.

Do you have conflict in your life?
Do you have sorrow?
Have you watched others suffer?

“Love God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul”
And
“Love your neighbor as yourself”

Are these not axioms we can all live by?

Peace, prosperity,
William Bryant