Earlier quoted context omitted.
You think it's a curse to be alive?
Personally, I think it is whichever of these you perceive it to be.
Strange "curse" if it can be rid of with some perspective change.
How will the miracle happen today?
51–60 of 285 posts
Re: How will the miracle happen today?
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
people getting increasingly hung up on enforcing reciprocity is just as likely a culprit
I wasn't trying to enforce reciprocity. I'm just saying that if you don't need help you shouldn't be asking for it from strangers. If you have a job and income you can afford transportation. Behaving like a broke person when you are not is taking advantage of other people, and taking limited kindness resources away from people who actually need help.
Perhaps kindness isn't a zero-sum game
Re: How will the miracle happen today?
#53> We are at the receiving end of a huge gift simply by being alive. I always perceived it completely opposite. Even as a few years old child.
I don't really understand which bit of the quoted phrase is opposite. Do you mean we're at the giving end of a huge gift? Or something else?
Re: How will the miracle happen today?
#54Sounds like someone who takes and does not give
For years and from people who have nothing to share.
Re: How will the miracle happen today?
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think this was rhetorical hedging - the author was expressing false doubt to underscore how extraordinary the actions of his hosts were, but he didn't literally mean he wouldn't do the same for others. The tone of the rest of the piece implies he is very grateful for the kindness of strangers.
Well we only know what he said. He doesn't present examples where he helped others.
That's not the point of his piece, and spending time virtue signaling to the reader would undermine the message that this kindness is a form of grace, given freely without expectation of reciprocation.
Re: How will the miracle happen today?
#56That was wonderful writing. As we go through the daily grind of life, we forget how privileged we are to be alive. I found the following two paragraphs truly incredible. > All of us begin in the same place. Whether sinner or saint, we are not owed our life. Our existence is an unnecessary extravagance, a wild gesture, an unearned gift. Not just at birth. The eternal surprise is being funneled to us daily, hourly, min…
> I’d like to think that I would without hesitation drive far out of my way to bring a sick traveler to the hospital (in the Philippines), but I am having trouble seeing myself emptying my bank account to purchase a boat ticket for someone who has more money than I do. And if I were a cold drink seller in Oman, I would definitely not give cold drinks away for free just because the recipient was a guest in my poor country. But those kind of illogical blessings happen when you are open to a gift.
Re: How will the miracle happen today?
#57I did the hitchhiking thing in my 20's. Up to Alaska and back. I know what he describes.
I wish everyone could have some experience like this. Because, like Kevin, I also have a positive view about strangers, about my fellow humans. And I have met a lot of people (friends, coworkers) where I recognize in them a fearfulness of the world. And I used to be like that too.
It really is a different and a wonderful world I think when you lose your fear of it.
Re: How will the miracle happen today?
#58I think the ending is worth reading to; to me this was not an essay showcasing a travel philosophy of reliance on others, but rather to express an easy to dismiss notion that you are not alone, and there are people that can and will look out for you.
Re: How will the miracle happen today?
#59> Although we don’t deserve it, and have done nothing to merit it, we have been offered a glorious ride on this planet, if only we accept it. This is the core message of Christianity. Undeserved Grace. I will also say though, I find it annoying this guy so easily received gifts from those least able to afford them, and then admits he is not willing to be so generous himself. Did he learn nothing from their example?
If I may, I think that's actually part of the point, and (at least for me) part of the lesson. I read him as saying that part of the miracle to him is that he has experienced something that makes him realize that it's a lot harder than it sounds to be loving and kind with no (or few) conditions, and to open your home and life to a stranger. For me, a lesson of this piece is actually the juxtaposition of the relative…
> Maybe KK wants to want to help people, and the challenge for him is connecting the dots.
Maybe he could try instead of waiting for someone to help him do it?