I have no particular taste for post-mortem immortality. I am immortal now, while I am gloriously alive.- Rabbi Joel Blau, "My Uncertain God," 1924
I have been thinking a lot about "good deeds" and why people do them. What motivates a person to pull over and assist a stranded driver? Why do we hand a stranger a dollar to get something to eat? What is our conscious motivation for random acts of kindness? I imagine some people think about an eternal reward. I imagine some think of the need and feel sympathy. Some perhaps think, there but for the grace of G_d go I. Is it instinct, do you act before you even think? Does it relate back to some incident in your past where you received help, or maybe didn't receive help? Do you think, G_d will surely reward me for this? Or maybe, if I don't do this I am never going to see the other side of the gates of heaven?
I'm curious. Is about you? Is about "them"? Is it about G_d? Is it about doing the right thing?
1 comment:
I do things for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it is to "be" Jesus to someone, sometimes it is our of understanding of where someone is because it is a path I have travelled. Most of the time it is an overflow of God in my life and thankfulness of his goodness to me, but I ashamedly admit that there is the occasional self-centered motivation that finds its way out. Thankfully, the outcome in the other person's life is the same and they don't have to deal with the darkness in my heart.
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