Joy Of Giving and Helping Others

I remember once being in church when the preacher asked all those who feel strong and okay to stand up, and all those who feel in need of help to remain sitting. It turned out to be about 50/50. Then he asked all those who are standing to lay their hand on a person who is sitting and pray for them. We all stood/sat there for a few minutes in silence, the stronger praying for the weaker, and the weaker absorbing all the extra energy. I thought it was a wonderful illustration.

You can also think of the joy you or some people feel while watching a loved one slowly unravel a present you carefully picked out for them for Christmas, and the joy you feel when they are happy with it. Once could say a greater joy than the joy of the person who received the present, no?

If you are such a person, perhaps you could help me with my free counseling. Many people write that they are depressed and need some guidance, but I find that most of these people just need a shoulder to cry on or a compassionate ear. I tend to get a bit logical in my "solutions", when sometimes what the person really needs is compassion and someone to discuss their problems with. Because I do so much organising for my translation business, I thought I could do the same here. Assuming that the requests for free counseling will be so great one day that I will not be able to handle them all myself. So I could accumulate a database of those who are standing and hook them up with those who are sitting. Perhaps I could figure out some system to successfully hook up the right kind of people. If you’d like to volunteer for this, I could forward you the emails and you would decide if you’d like to respond. That way it would be up to you if you want to disclose your email address to the person. Or you could set yourself up a special email address for this purpose. Or you could send it to me to double check and I will forward.

Otherwise, you could help me make these webpages look less dorky, or there are many other charity projects I like to involve myself in and which you could help me with. For me, the thought of living a selfish life without helping others is a life of death, without joy. In my daily life I see people who are selfish and they do not seem happy. In fact, the more selfish they are, chances are the more angry they are as well. But if you look around you and notice any gleaming and happy faces, chances are that those people give more freely and are more prone to help others. That is the joy of giving. Not to mention that most times when you help someone it does not really cost you much, in terms of time, money or effort, but could help that person immensely. Raising one finger of help for someone else could be equivalent to that person raising a hundred fingers for themself. Most people remember that you’ve helped them, and one day an opportunity comes when they too can lift a finger, helping you a hundred fold. And hence it has a ripple and profiting effect, for which reason they say: "What comes around, goes around."

But you do not really get the joy of giving if you are planning on and expecting such a future profit. It is best to just give and profit from the immediate joy of it, letting yourself be surprised by the bonus which may come in the future.
But if you do not feel the immediate joy, then you know you have a problem and something you need to work on.

It reminds me a bit of when Jesus was walking through the square, saw a begging cripple, and asked him if he wants to be saved and walk. When the cripple replied yes, Jesus said: "Well get up then!" At which the point the cripple, surprised, got up and was saved.

And this is the state I see the selfish person in, who does not receive the joy of giving. Or they are too proud to let themselves feel the joy, because they are too consumed with envy at the free benefit they are giving to someone else that they end up crippling themselves in the process. Envy and pride are definitely not easy things to let go of, but if you can see how it is crippling you and denying yourself such free and simple joy --the joy of giving-- you might ponder on this issue and try to reverse your situation. With the story about Jesus above, I think it is an illustration that the cripple could have gotten up any time he wanted to, but he was just wallowing in self pity, believed he could not get up, and crippled himself in the process. I see many people who are crippled in one way or another (spiritually, mentally), and who believe they can never get out of their horrible rut. When the fact is they can just stand up whenever they want to and free themselves from this thinking.

Well, I’m not powerful like Jesus, but perhaps some of the reading on these pages can inspire you.
Otherwise, if you are a stander, you can volunteer on these pages (or other pages, or in your community) and receive the great and free joy of giving! It’s free, it gives you purpose, a sense of accomplishment, and you go to sleep that day with a satisfied smile on your face.

Another analogy that the bible gives is the vase that brims over with fresh water. From Jesus flows the river of love and fresh water, and fills up your soul like an empty vase. But if the water that has filled your vase does not flow further, it will stagnate and no longer be fresh. So you need to keep giving in order to keep replenishing your vase with more water, to keep it fresh, and not let it stagnate.