Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia was once in a contest where he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child.The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife.
Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.
When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, "Nothing, I just helped him cry"
Likewise, in this world sometime we just need to show compassion without words. And often that solves the most complex of the problems !!
Credit: Ottmar Liebert's Blog
One of my blog visitor, Tiel Aisha Ansari shared her wisdom: But notice, the boy did not say he _did_ nothing, he said he _said_ nothing to the neighbor. In my opinion, climbing into the old gentleman's lap and sitting with him counts as doing a lot. "Doing nothing" in this situation would have meant staying in his own yard and leaving the elderly gentleman to himself...
The problem with this kind of 'advice' is it does not enumerate the various situations that it should or should not be applied. And because it does not, the human mind, in its efforts to bring about cognitive ease, will tend to apply this in the entirety of human experience. This is why many an evil is left unaddressed untill it reaches socially-destructive proportions.
ReplyDeleteLending a ear may indeed be therapeutic. However, the quality of aid is not to be determined by how much better it makes a person feel but the extent to which it destabilises the conditions that made you feel bad in the first place.
Ottmar ought to pay the above a serious amount of thought before posting such nonsense. Freedom of speech and expression should be taken seriously. In other words, a serious amount of reflection and study must precede and accompany this 'right' lest we make many 'wrong' a 'right' by ill-considered statements. We must not forget that this is a world full of 'adults' who are as impressionable as children. If they weren't, phenomena such as a 'consumer' society cannot logically exist, along with a whole host of other childish phenomena.
One ought not to claim 'adulthood' just because one has reached a certain age. This is not unlike 'celebrities' claiming moral and intellectual ascendance just because they enjoy prominence. They do not necessarily share a cause-effect relationship. 'Adulthood', aka, maturity, is something that begs justification.
Beloved Inquisitor,
ReplyDeleteI guess u missed the point and appeal in that statement, "Nothing i just helped him cry."
That is very Zen idea. Thats why that child was awarded to be the most caring child. When in Islam it teaches to submit to God properly, it also has similar concept in a grand scale where the servant loses its priority, God's will becomes everything.
Perhaps you are preoccupied with socialist ideas and injustice, that is why when it is said, do nothing, it create a whole lot different meaning to you. I guess injustice comes to your mind, social problem which need to be addressed comes to your mind.
Thats perfectly OK. As human being we all have our own evolution and we see the world according to that evolution. You are right, and the Zen master who says, "Just Do nothing" he is also right.. and also a Sufis who relied so deeply on God that they did nothing and Food came to them directly from heaven... everybody is right.
Nothing is "non-sense" because they all are spoken from differnet level of realizations.
Your statement, "One ought not to claim 'adulthood' just because one has reached a certain age" is a lovely thing. I loved it very much.
But notice, the boy did not say he _did_ nothing, he said he _said_ nothing to the neighbor. In my opinion, climbing into the old gentleman's lap and sitting with him counts as doing a lot. "Doing nothing" in this situation would have meant staying in his own yard and leaving the elderly gentleman to himself... Ottmar seems to have missed this point.
ReplyDeleteTruth comes from the mouths of children. Beautiful post, my friend.
ReplyDeleteBeloved Aisha,
ReplyDeletePraise be to God. You are brilliant, do you know that?
I also didn't thought from that angle !!! You are right, the child actually did something very special by going over, sitting on the lap. That was an extra-ordinary act.
And also saying nothing, was also an extraordinary act of compassion. Because at the time of sorrow, most often it helps if we just be with the sorrowful person and share moments even though we need to say nothing.
(Similar to the Bible story of Job and his friends).
May God bless u.
Beloved Isaiah,
ReplyDeleteYou are right. Truth, beauty and very often Wisdom comes from the children.
We often compare children with angels, but they are more beautiful and wise than angels. They are simply the Glory of God in flesh.
May blessings of God be with you my friend.