Our Brother’s Keeper
Originally written June 4, 2020
At the beginning of 2020, I definitely would not have predicted the tempestuous national and worldwide situation in which we find ourselves these days. The months of coronavirus panic and quarantine have brought to the surface many underlying problems in our society. We have come to realize how much our work, success, and entertainment control our lives. We have been made to acknowledge the disparities in healthcare and in the workforce. We have witnessed the unfortunate, unnecessary brutality of particular law enforcement officers. All in all, it has been brought to light that we, as humans, are all too focused on ourselves, our own success, and our own comfort. Our egocentric drive makes us myopic to the effects of our self-centered actions. We have become so focused on ourselves that we are blind to the plight of our neighbor. However, I would argue that the fulfillment of the human person paradoxically can only be realized in giving of oneself, rather than gratifying ourselves. In response to the horrific tragedy of death, in both the pandemic and the unjust murders of our fellow citizens, we must commit ourselves to living more for others, to thinking of the other person before we think of ourselves.
As the wave of quarantine enforcement began, there were many memes created about how the coronavirus pandemic has given the world a much needed pause. They tried to communicate how our world has become so fast-paced and out of control, and that we were in need of an overdue break. It may seem more applicable to those of us who are privileged enough to have been provided the resources and given an environment in which we can thrive, from a young age. We were also indoctrinated with the supremacy of success and wealth, from our childhood. We were always pressured to perform and excel, while growing up. We were conditioned to feed back into the economic machine of education, entertainment, and industry, our whole lives. In these times, we have been lucky to be able to keep our jobs and only suffer the minor inconveniences of socially distancing from our friends, when the movie theaters, sports arenas, and bars closed, and replacing going to the store or a restaurant with ordering online.
However, there are many who were greatly affected by this recent societal hiatus. They may have succumbed to the virus and suffered death because of their physical morbidities or lack of access to healthcare. They may not have been able to work from home, lounging on their couch in their pajamas and posting pictures on the Internet; instead, they may have been put out of a job, and cannot support their family anymore. Looking back on the past few months of quarantine and social distancing, we have been reminded again that not everyone has equal benefits of a steady health and plentiful resources to weather the storms of life.
Unfortunately, as part of our human nature, we cannot fully understand the life experiences of our neighbors, or even those of our family members and close friends. We are individually conditioned to see and filter the world in a certain way. Therefore, we do not appreciate others’ ways of life, or even try to understand them, because they differ from our own perspective of the world. It is too difficult for us to wrap our minds around what others might be going through. Those of us who have been blessed with a comfortable lifestyle cannot comprehend the uncertainty of being unable to afford adequate healthcare, especially in a time when the medical scene is so uncertain. We don’t know what it is like to be out of a job, not knowing if you will be able to pay the bills and running the risk of eviction because you can’t pay rent. It is beyond us to understand the difficulty of trying hard to succeed in life, when the cards are stacked against you.
Since we cannot fully understand our neighbor’s situation, we can easily write it off. We can make excuses for why they landed up in their situation. We can blame the other person for making bad life choices or being lazy. We can say that their strife is not as bad as it seems. We can disregard their suffering because we say that we all have struggles in our lives, and that is their cross to bear.
However, our inability to understand the experience of another is no excuse to disregard our neighbor’s plight. All we have to do is listen. All we have to do is seek out those struggling in our community, be present, hear their story, and offer to help. The only solution is to walk alongside our suffering brothers and sisters and to teach our neighbors and families to do the same.
In our world, and especially in many parts of America, there are places that benefit from plentiful wealth and ready comfort. In our modern age, there are many areas of surplus, material and immaterial. It is wasted if we hoard it for ourselves, instead of giving of it to others. So, in addition to better informing yourself about the plight of those struggling in your community and sharing that information with others, I would charge you with actually doing something to change your life, from taking for yourself, into giving to another.
It goes beyond posting on social media, and even marching in rallies. It needs to be serving in your community, giving of your excess resources (your time, your talents, and your money), educating the uneducated, and offering others the inspiration and the opportunity to succeed. It goes beyond just voting in the presidential election; it needs to be being informed about who is running for federal and state representatives, governor, mayor, district attorney, and city council people. It needs to be a return to healthy families, the foundational unit of a society, and a celebration of the role of the family life in society, which is to instill virtue in the next generation and create strong citizens to combat immorality, poverty, and injustice. It needs to be supporting local organizations, religious groups, and schools that foster a healthy community and enculturate charity, justice, and truth.
The Catholic church teaches the seven corporal (feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, visit the imprisoned, shelter the homeless, visit the sick, and bury the dead) and seven spiritual (admonish the sinner, instruct the ignorant, counsel the doubtful, comfort the sorrowful, bear wrongs patiently, forgive all injuries, and pray for the living and the dead) Works of Mercy as a guide for how to live a life of charity. They can be a fruitful reflection for ideas of ways to make your lifestyle more generous.
Right now, make a list of 5 things that you can do today, to promote life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (remember, which is rooted in the giving of oneself, not the taking for oneself), for all people. And then make a list of 5 more things next week, and next month. Do not become complacent as the news cycle moves on and our lives start to return to some semblance of normal. In the words of the motto of my alma mater, “Seek ye Truth and Justice.” Arm yourself with the truth of what is actually going on in our society and pursue justice and charity in your homes, work places, and communities. Only by changing ourselves and our local communities can we affect the country and the world. Although we live in a broken society and culture, we can all be inspired by the unifying words of the preamble of the Constitution of the United States:
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
As citizens of this nation, we must each do our part to keep these words.
