A church school teacher told her class, "Girls and boys, we were put here to help others." After a moment of reflection, one 7 year old boy asked, "What were them 'others' put here for ?"
Maybe she was trying to instill in those youngsters an awareness of the "Golden Rule". You know, treat other people in the same way you would want to be treated. And that principle appears prominently in Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and other major world religions as well as in Christianity.
A prominent bioethicist asserts that : "the foundational questions about ethics are about what we owe others, not just ourselves, not just our family and friends." And, she concluded sadly that "Americans do not agree about the duty to protect others, whether it's from a virus or gun violence."
Her comments appeared in a recent New York Times column entitled "For Older Americans, the Pandemic is Not Over". Being right on the cusp of turning 85, I found grim statistics in that piece. Last month (January 2023), "about three-quarters of Covid deaths have occurred in people over 65." Those 65 and over accounted for "about 90 percent of the nation's Covid deaths."
So, what about any responsibility "them others" who are at lower risk for Covid have for those at higher risks. Regrettably, for many reasons, a high percentage of elders are not taking precautions for their own well-being. Avoiding transmitting contagion rests on all of us.
Society has "opened up" with many pre-Covid activities resuming. Far from being hermits, many of us want to return to "normality" but the enduring risks mandate caution. In that same article, a 67 year old Charlotte, N.C., woman who along with her husband recently experienced a particularly harsh Covid case explained their resumption of activities: "It's a risk I'm willing to take. I feel like I'm living life on my terms, doing the things I want to do." I counted five first person pronouns : I and my. There was no mention about whether they were exercising precautions for the sake of others, like wearing a mask.
Remember Sinatra's boast "I did it my way" ? Runs counter to the old fashioned (some might say 'outdated') notion of 'commonwealth' . . . our mutual well-being. In another recent NYT article , David French maintained that "what we do for others is infinitely more rewarding than what we ask them to do for us." Said another way, I am wearing my mask not only for me but also for you because we are still in this together.
A man who recently lost his elderly father to Covid still encounters comments from strangers because he wears a mask in public pleads, "people just need to care about other people, man. That's my soapbox."
Mine too !
Satchel
Excellent article Satchel .As Paul writes Christ’s love frees us from all rules with the expectation that we live in a world community and love one another as we love ourself.HW
ReplyDeleteNow you’ve gone and done it ... you’ve opened the door to a question that is critical to our existence as a species, has been pondered for millennia, and certainly has no definitive answer! My gosh, making us think on the morning of or after the Super Bowl!
ReplyDeleteThere is a movie my wife and I found entertaining related directly to this subject called “The Square” and available for free on several streaming services. Unless you are fluent in Danish ... or was it Swedish .... you have to acclimate to watching with subtitles, but the 2 ½ movie moves slowly enough that you can do that and still study the bewildered reactions to the people involved as it unfolds.
Finding the proper balance between a concern for others and for yourself is a challenge. My great grandfather tried repeatedly to encourage his favorite sister to leave the Old World behind for the benefits he saw in this new country of America. I found it interesting that he closed one letter with the comment, “Remember Elizabeth, you must look out for Number One.”
I had no idea that expression was well known in the 19th century. I also wondered would she have been doing the right thing to follow the path of her brother or, as she did, stay in Wales to please her kin.
Years ago, my closest friend confided that if I had a theme song, it would be Sinatra’s hit. I had to agree ... and did so with pleasure. But I never adopted a “my way or the highway” position. If I wanted to go trout fishing and my wife wanted to attend a garden show, I did mine and she did hers.
But that only goes so far. Sometimes the “want” of one involves the participation of the other. Some sort of compromise is then needed and to truly say you did it your way, means you have to adopt that compromise as being what you choose to do.
Next blog, choose motherhood or apple pie. Soooo much easier!
Who is this ?
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