Who Is Your Good Friend? Who Is Your Well-wisher? The Human Dilemma in Everyday Living!

Jesus Christ when he lived on earth as a human being some 2000 years ago, tried to reveal the truths about God and what God expects from people. As he knew the human limitations in understanding greater truths, he tried to make his idea understandable to the common folks by teaching them through small stories or parables. [You may read all the parables of Jesus and meditate about those by clicking this link. Thanks to the people who have compiled it!]

Now we often find it difficult to get a good friend even while we are surrounded by scores of friends and relatives. Unfortunately good Samaritans are difficult to find. While we all have many friends, acquaintances and family relatives, we many not find any good Samaritan among them when you need it most.

The good Samaritan in the parable as told by Jesus was perhaps a non-Jewish man from Sumer regions adjoining the land of the Jews. Jews of that time did not approve of their culture, civilization and religious beliefs and hence it was almost unthinkable for them to imagine to have any thing good from these peoples.

But Jesus purposefully made the good man who helped out the wounded and helpless Jew without expecting any thing in return as a man from Sumeria. A totally unexpected person who would extent all out help to a helpless man in utter need of some help!

There could be occasions when we find such good Samaritans in our lives too. Most often it is not the friends and relatives who extent us the help we badly need at times. In those most difficult times, sometimes the agencies of God come to our aid through such good Samaritans.

When it happens, it is quite human for us to think about all those on whom we have been relying too much, only to find that they had deserted us on the times we needed their support most. Naturally that gives much pains.

I have experienced that. Perhaps those near to me might have experienced such a thing from me even. I might not have been in a position to help some of them during the times they needed it from me most.

Humans have a great weakness. They want to be friends and relatives of those who are better of. If you are somebody countable in the society, people respect you and would be eager to help you, even when you are not in any need for any such help. But the moment your weakness gets exposed, 99 out of 100 would desert you. This weakness of humans has originated from the animal trait of imitation that is within us. Just as a chimp would like to imitate the superior humans around it, inferior humans would try to imitate those humans around them whom they consider as superior. Hero worship in humans is due to this. Knowingly or unknowingly, we get a type of satisfaction when our boss or wealthy neighbor or wealthy acquaintance or a relative holding some influencing power show some friendly gestures. 

On the other hand we get elated and feels like a king when some of those humans whom we consider as inferior show some respectful friendliness towards us. This is due to another peculiar mind trait that is within us. All of us want to be some kind of a king or a boss! 

Humans help each other expecting reciprocation. But such friendships are often based on our complex mind entangled in what is termed as the god-dog syndrome. We help others when we feel as gods to someone or when someone forces us to be like serving dogs or servants. 

Else, we commercialize our services to others. The entire system of trade and business is depended on the unique manner in which humans have learnt and implemented the money system. Money is nothing but the measure of the value of our services to our fellow men!

But when we rise above these and does some selfless service to others, we learn to transcend beyond our human weaknesses and acquire godliness. 

Such gestures too come from us occasionally. Many of us do selfless service to our fellow men and women who are in need. While some of us have ventured in to the task of pooling our selfless efforts and gestures, a greater number of us are cleverly transforming such efforts for our selfish purposes!

A good majority of us fail to do understand the need of others and extent help when they need it most. We are often suspicious of others and their motives and hence fail to recognize reals from fakes. Because we live in a world which is full of deceptions than good. And we are all part and parcel of this world.

I have written some time earlier about our selfishness and pride that prevent us from getting nearer to God.

When I decide to share my problems with some one whom I consider as my well wisher, I am seeking and exploring my god given options of good fellowship from my human brothers and sisters. God wants us to be compassionate to each other. But many often we are failed and pained by the breach of trusts that we face from our near and dear ones. Those of whom we considered as our own fellows who would be of help and support would do such things to ridicule and mock us from behind us taking advantage of our exposed weaknesses!

Even Jesus faced such a betrayal from Judas who had been his trusted disciple for quite some time! Remember, Jesus too faced such a thing when was apparently becoming weak and appearing as helpless. Judas would have never done such a betrayal had Jesus displayed his power and position!

Again we betray others because of ignorance. We want to belittle our friends and gain an edge over them because we have that irresistible desire to become a king for some time. We want that power of the king to display our pride and superiority over others and many of us consider the best place to show off is in front of those who know us well. So a friend or relative asking for a help would immediately gives some ulterior ego satisfaction in many of us. At that time we use to retaliate and show of our kingly nature!

How sad! Is it what God wants us to do? 

Could we find good Samaritans among those around us? Could it be possible for us to be a good Samaritan to others? It is indeed a dilemma that we face in our daily lives. Remember, this dilemma is faced by all regardless of their wealth and position, quite often.

But to realize more about it you need to comprehend it in a much deeper manner. 

If you have not yet comprehended it, read that good Samaritan story that Jesus told and meditate over it. 

But you could do that meditation only when your pride level is conducive for that! 

The Dilemma of Public Decision Makers of Democratic Institutions in an Era of Material Comforts!

If you have to purchase a TV, refrigerator, air-conditioner or a car, what will you do ? You can take the purchase decisions as you wish. It is your money and no one is going to question your decisions, except perhaps your spouse or some one in your family who could dare to do it. 

There are hundreds of models and several manufacturers. The costs also vary widely. Now-a-days, many final products, for example, say the home PC, is an assembly of so many well known parts, both hardware and software. How can you assess the qualities of all those and their effects on the final product ? As an individual customer, you are bound to get confused. The money, model, make, looks, service, spares, are all important to be looked into. But, comparing and comparing, you are likely to get fed up. Finally you take your decisions from your assessment based on what is called your gut feeling ! 

And perhaps your decision was neither wrong nor right. No one, including you, can prove it either way, even if the product did not give you full satisfaction. On the other hand, you and your near ones could keep finding fault with the product you have purchased. If it failed in some aspects, you may or may not play the blame game. But, no one can hold you responsible and initiate a criminal prosecution procedure against you for the decision that you had taken. After all, you are the sole authority for your decisions and the sole recipient of the results.

But this is not the case when you take decisions on behalf of a group of people. You could be an elected representative or an official holding a public trust office. If the group you are representing is going to find fault with your decisions, you are likely to be discouraged from taking any decisions. By taking decisions or by not taking decisions you are likely to antagonize some of those in the group you are representing. 

Unless all in the group have a common mindset, it is extremely difficult to arrive in any decisions which are acceptable to all.

And this is the great problem of democracy and democratic institutions, at present. A democracy for unequally developed persons with unequal mind qualities could create chaos and anarchy. You are likely to get disillusioned with the non performing democratic systems that you have today. 

Imagine the situation when a public trust official has to purchase a PC for his office. How could he do it satisfying each and every one, ensuring the most appropriate purchase decision? Whatever he does, there could be some some grievance for some one. In many instances, when he is out from his position after some time, the blame game can go to such an extent that his seemingly innocent decision could be termed as a criminal offence !

The more you make procedures to make your decision making system transparent, the more it becomes complex and counter productive! The reason for such an outcome is because of the unequal competencies and characters of the people involved. 

A democratic system incorporated for a group of people with varying mind capacities is bound to become an antagonistic one towards the progress of the same people. 

And the mind capacities of people in an era of material comforts are not going to improve in one or two generations. It might take several generations before the majority of persons become advanced in mind capacity. When such a situation evolve, we can perhaps say that our civilization is one which respects wisdom and knowledge. That would be the time when the majority aspire for wisdom and knowledge.

There would not be much dilemma for public decision makers in a civilization of people respecting wisdom and knowledge. From this time onward, democracy and democratic institutions are bound to leap forward.

So, presently we cannot be satisfied with our democratic institutions and our democratic representatives who are there to take the decisions for us. 

Because we all are presently in an era of material comforts and we have not yet developed our minds collectively to that of wisdom and knowledge. We cannot expect the democratic representatives different in mind capacities augmented by wisdom and character, than what we ourselves are.

We have not yet learned the benefits of achieving wisdom, even while we might have achieved certain levels of knowledge ! Unless our knowledge is polished by experience, we cannot possibly attain wisdom.

And when we are in our lazy comfort zones of material pleasures, we are not going to acquire the much needed experiences. And generations are ahead of us for gaining the required levels of knowledge and wisdom !

No point in worrying about the failures of our democratic institutions and those representatives of ours who make those democratic organizations. 

Without the necessary levels of knowledge and wisdom for the majority of us, we are not going to resolve our present day problems in our present generation.

But surely, we need not be pessimistic. Our future generations are going to resolve these issues. That is the manner in which our world is designed by the Original Designer of our evolving world.

Time is the sure shot healer of our problems. We need to learn the benefits of patience. 

And that too is part of our learning experiences!



[Read the previous blog for knowing more about the eras of human progress !]