When we care...

When we care for someone, we sacrifice what we want in order to ensure the other person is provided for. However, care can be shown in various ways and sometimes one must hurt the ones we love to ensure they receive the lessons of life.

aged20care20 20arm20support20blue20dress Ponzm 162

I can remember back to the time when I was young and I had done something wrong; I had intentionally hurt my sister because she would not give me her new toy (I’ve always been a little selfish) and I was punished. My mother ensured I had no toys to play with and I was grounded – I loved playing with my friends and this was a punishment that ensured I remembered that what I did was wrong. To this day, I can remember my mum’s punishment and while at the time I HATED her (believe me, hate was definitely the way I felt) I now understand that what she did, she did because she loved me greatly.

Imagine a world where there were no consequences for our actions. Imagine a world where people did not know right from wrong because they had never been taught to differentiate between the two, and because no one had cared enough to demonstrate how one should live a life. In order to perfect our lives, we have to experience both good and bad things; suffering the consequences and punishments for our misbehaviour. Some people have not been lucky enough to have a mum who would be hated at the time of punishment in order to create a child that respected life and others, some have not had to face their father’s wrath when they have disobeyed the family’s rules or disrespected the family name. If we multiply this to everyone, we would have a world that doesn’t respect, that doesn’t care and that doesn’t love.

Think of the people you love and care for; think of the people that mean the most to you. Would you leave them to live a destructive life, knowing they are going to end up going nowhere, knowing they would suffer in the long-term, or would you step up and be hated in order to teach, so they can learn? Sometimes we should put others first. In the Bible we are taught to firstly love the sinner and hate the sin, but we are also taught to do more unto others than we do for ourselves. This is what true care is, doing more for someone than we do for ourselves. We are taught from the crucifixion of Christ that self-sacrifice is admirable and true humanity.

As the world loses its humanity and begins to become self-centred, we must remember the sacrifices that have been made by our ancestors. Our ancestors fought for our freedom, they died for our freedom and we are failing to appreciate that. The Apartheid may have ended but we still live in the oppressive society in which we should be free. Ending the apartheid should have united us, given us a sense of community and care for our fellow brothers and sisters but instead we have become insular; wanting to ‘better’ ourselves and not our neighbour. What happened to our cultures? Our ancestors helped each other, they shared things and they endured hardships together for US.

In order to better our society, we should unite, we should help, we should respect. Come together and fight for this world, our world. Let us care for each other the way we have been taught, let us care for each other the way our ancestors did, let us care for each other the way Mandela intended. Let us care!