FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT
Did you ever wonder if you would lay your life down for another? Did you ever wonder how you would act under fire? Did you ever wonder if you would jump into a raging river to save the life of a person you don’t know?
How would we know what we might do under fire or in an emergency? We certainly don’t get many opportunities to practice courage. What does it mean to ‘fight the good fight’? What exactly is the ‘good fight?’
Well, as one who is smack dab in the middle of ‘fighting the good fight’, perhaps I can at least shed a little low wattage light on this subject.
The good fight is certainly standing up for the weak or the helpless. We have gotten out of the habit of fighting for the rights and freedom of the downtrodden. We go out of our way to ‘not get involved’. We’re quick to blame government for not fixing everything. We’re quick to justify our actions or better, lack of action. We’re quick to rationalize circumstances as ‘their own fault’, or ‘they could have avoided that by doing this or that’.
Today I’m actively fighting the good fight for helpless, destitute and homeless children but a few short years ago I was changing the channel whenever an appeal for one need or another came across the screen. I was quick to move on before my heart became engaged in the tragedy. For most of my life I struggled only for what my family and I needed.
Fighting the good fight is taking a stand, sponsoring a child, feeding the homeless, donating time to charitable causes, using your resources to enable others who are in the trenches helping. Fighting the good fight is being accountable for others, being your brother’s keeper, looking out for one another. Fighting the good fight is making some of the tragedies we see personal.
When was the last time you volunteered for anything? When was the last time you brought food to a family down on their luck or a present to the child of a homeless family?
I know how difficult it is these days to separate the real need from the scams that are out there but is it really our responsibility to judge the honest needy from the alcoholics or addicts looking for a fix? How can you be sure? Isn’t that homeless alcoholic or addict at the bottom of the ladder? Can’t we reach out to them also?
Allow your heart to be your guide as far as whom you help and how much you help. Try to trust your instincts. Homelessness and destitution are frightening conditions. Do you realize that most North Americans are less than six paychecks away from homelessness? That’s a fine line between them and us. Think about that. It’s a sobering thought.
One of the noblest acts a human being can undertake is that of a volunteer. We should have a ticker-tape parade for the volunteers who comfort, feed, visit and nurture the sad, lonely and hopeless souls that are scattered in growing numbers across our great land. What has happened to us that we have grown so callused that we change the channel or cross the street or look the other way while suffering abounds all around us. This is my appeal. Do something.
Norman Ball
[email protected]
Walk of Hope for the Children
of the World www.walkofhope.org