Okay, so once again I've let too much time pass between posts. Not only because I've been busy (and now I'm catching a cold and feel like my head is stuffed with moth balls) but also because I haven't felt like I have anything to say. I'm doing too much thinking of the sort that doesn't reach a conclusion. But since I need something to post about....
I've been thinking about problems and root problems. It's best summed up in that old proverb `give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime.' It seems to me that right now so many people I know are struggling, and the only thing I can do is hand them a fish. That is, I try to help, but all I do is scratch the surface. It's frustrating because I know tomorrow they'll just need another fish.
Then there are the even deeper root problems; people who are angry at other people and take it out on a third party (those sorts of stresses always seems to crop up near the holidays.) or people who make bad decisions but you can't stop them because they're adults and you have no control over their lives. The best you can do is pray for them, and feel like smacking them up the back of the head to knock some sense into them (only it probably wouldn't work).
I all you can do is give what help you can, pray a lot, and trust that God can take the little bit of fish you offer and multiply it into something of actual use.
Then again, give a man a fish, and you give yourself another day to get a fishing pole, or for another friend to, or even the man himself. {smile}
ReplyDeleteIn other words, a temporary solution grants you more time t find something longer lasting. Sometimes that's the best you can do. As my father kept reminding me while my friend was getting sicker this summer, doing all you can do IS enough, even if it doesn't seem like it possibly can be. {lop-sided but sympathetic Smile, HUGS}
Anne Elizabeth Baldwin
Thanks, and you're right -especially about buying time. I think one of my problems (at least this week) is that I'm such an optimist that I keep thinking I've finally figured out the best possible solution that will work forever- and then it doesn't. But you are right -trying counts for a lot, even if it doesn't seem like it. At least the person knows they're not going it alone.
ReplyDeleteI see what you mean. Ironically I am having the exact same problem with people around me, and I feel so powerless to help them expect do the really small things that don't make much difference. I wish I could 'teach them how to fish', if you get me. I was surprised at just how relevant this post is to me right now... thank you for posting!
ReplyDelete