Silently I sit, available to all who ask for my assistance, hoping that this is a vocation. Many ask for money, with no strings attached. I turn them down for several reasons. The first is that I am in partnership; my partner and I must agree on the effort. The second is that I am not charitable; I invest in efforts in which I believe.
Too many hand out money without question, creating a class of "charity" charlatans and thieves. Would you give your children money without wanting to know on what they spend it? "Ah, but I am an adult," says the recipient; "I can do with your money what I please." I reply that money is, in my case, a substitute for the talents that I traded with someone. If one is not ready to give me a plan for how they will use individual talents to increase my investment in an effort, I decline to invest.
Money has become meaningless as barter; best efforts in many fields count for nothing. Those who attend to birthing, teaching, and creating and conserving human dignity are but reminders of memories of humanity's most difficult endeavors. Our arrogance says that we should be able to do all, and when others step in to assist, we cringe. Rather that treating the helpers as personal partners, we relegate them to positions of disgrace and poverty.
I was wise, this time, in insisting to be compensated, not because I don't love, but because I do. The civil courts are not the place to create equity, and the churches shirk their responsibilities in these endeavors to create peace among people. Sentiment and religion seem to sway us, but free use of individual intellect and collaboration with others are our greatest graces. Only by balancing feeling and thinking can humanity come to parity in partnerships.
We no longer elect leaders based on experience, but on the brightness of their smiles and the cut in their hair. We believe in the tears that they have been taught to shed on command, and act as if kissing a baby has anything to do with what it means to put one's own life on hold to bring one up in the way he or she should go.
We are all pharisees and hypocrites. We only want to follow those who lead us on an easy path. Religions say that what we say will save us. This has never been true. It is what we do that makes a difference. I'd like to be asked to lead again, as I did when I was young, but my path was one of example and instruction while I stood in the wings waiting to be asked for further assistance. Patience is probably the hardest effort I ever had to exhibit, but I would gladly do the same again.
Too many hand out money without question, creating a class of "charity" charlatans and thieves. Would you give your children money without wanting to know on what they spend it? "Ah, but I am an adult," says the recipient; "I can do with your money what I please." I reply that money is, in my case, a substitute for the talents that I traded with someone. If one is not ready to give me a plan for how they will use individual talents to increase my investment in an effort, I decline to invest.
Money has become meaningless as barter; best efforts in many fields count for nothing. Those who attend to birthing, teaching, and creating and conserving human dignity are but reminders of memories of humanity's most difficult endeavors. Our arrogance says that we should be able to do all, and when others step in to assist, we cringe. Rather that treating the helpers as personal partners, we relegate them to positions of disgrace and poverty.
I was wise, this time, in insisting to be compensated, not because I don't love, but because I do. The civil courts are not the place to create equity, and the churches shirk their responsibilities in these endeavors to create peace among people. Sentiment and religion seem to sway us, but free use of individual intellect and collaboration with others are our greatest graces. Only by balancing feeling and thinking can humanity come to parity in partnerships.
We no longer elect leaders based on experience, but on the brightness of their smiles and the cut in their hair. We believe in the tears that they have been taught to shed on command, and act as if kissing a baby has anything to do with what it means to put one's own life on hold to bring one up in the way he or she should go.
We are all pharisees and hypocrites. We only want to follow those who lead us on an easy path. Religions say that what we say will save us. This has never been true. It is what we do that makes a difference. I'd like to be asked to lead again, as I did when I was young, but my path was one of example and instruction while I stood in the wings waiting to be asked for further assistance. Patience is probably the hardest effort I ever had to exhibit, but I would gladly do the same again.
