Caring: One of the Essentials

I started reading the book Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and I am several stories into it and still not quite sure what to think. Before I decided what I want to be when I grow up (an English Teacher), I used to put down, give back, throw away or something along those lines any book that even slightly juxtaposed against my values and standards. I realize how much I missed out on when I look back. I read a good deal of different books now and learn a great deal from each of them-- even if it's only how much I definitely do not like a particular genre or whatever. Though in all seriousness, I have learned some extraordinary lessons about life and people through reading books without having to drudge through the trauma of the drama in reality. Learning by vicarious means beats the pants off of the other means of learning hard lessons.


The reading of all sorts of texts opens my eyes to numerous human qualities I used to take so much more for granted. As I begin to appreciate the divine importance of CARING, my heart and mind enlarge to encompass more than I thought possible.

Nearly Blind to the Path

Everyone has someone who loves them. It might not be the exact person or how many people we wish would love us, but there is always somebody who cares. The book A Hero Ain't Nothin' But a Sandwich by Alice Childress is a tough book, as well as a fantastic book. The boy lives in a rough neighborhood and gets mixed up with bad friends and drugs; therefore, there are tough words and explicit scenes due to those facts. The results of his actions lead him away from his family and friends that care until he is not able to see his importance in the lives of his mother, step-father and even a teacher. They care about him, yet his blindness leads him to believe the opposite. He does not see how his choices hurt everyone around him.

How many times have you become blinded, rejecting those who care because you could not tell until hindsight came into play? I could not count mine on my two hands...

How can anyone see when they do not care to see? Now that is the trickiest part of the whole thing. The answer, my friends, comes in the form of prayer, love, and charity. I know my dark days as a young adult came to an end and I was blessed to have a loving, happy close to my earthly relationship with my mother before she died due to--at the absolute very least--the fervent prayers, abiding love, and pure charity poured out in my behalf by my mother. There were more people who cared; I am pretty sure. Yet, I can point out, with all certainty, at least the one.

The truths we run across in all the texts surrounding our existence point in nearly all directions. How can we discern between them? I rely on the three P's: Prayer, Pondering and Patience. Yes, those are not easy things. They take time, even A LOT of time sometimes. But, they work. This brings me back to Eat Pray Love. Gilbert says this concerning truth-seeking:

Looking for Truth is not some kind of spazzy free-for-all, not even during this, the great age of the spazzy free-for-all.

So even though it might not be easy, quick or comfortable due to our circumstances and cultural conditioning, care enough to slow down enough to pray and avoid apathy-induced blindness.

Caring is as essential as air or water. Without them, existence as we know it ends.