What Is Lost

Certain things are lost when emotions are shown through material items. The actual hole that needs to be filled remains empty. All you gain is more stuff. And of course it makes you happy to ben with but then the effect wears off. My parents are very good at using shopping and other material things to show emotion or ask for forgiveness. But right now...all I want is for someone to straighten my hair for me and talk and eat ice cream. I need that connection and to feel like I will be ok and taken care of. Not taken care of in a little kid sense, but in a I can relax for an hour and not have to worry. There are other people who can do things for me, I don't have to do everything. f I had a choice of how to soend tonight...that is what I would want.

Other things are lost when one is only for themselves. Hillel once said " If I am not for myself, then who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, who am I?" For me the point of that is, we cannot expect others to do everything for us so we must do things for ourselves. But who are we if all we focus on is ourselves? We lose the ability to do tzedakah or charity. We lose the feeling of doing something to help someone else. Those feelings are the greatest of all. ANd we seem to have all but completely lost sight of that fact. People ignore the homeless and eat in front of the hungry. Who are we if all we do is help ourselves? Everyone is equal in the end of it all, we are all human and we are suposed to see each other in that light. Why is it looked at as a crazy action to hand someone on the street, a dollar? Or buy them food? Isn't that what we would want if the roles were reversed?

A line from the d'var Torah I heard today has stuck with me and made me think; "you shall have the same law for stranger as citizen". When it was said n the speech it was meant to be said as fairness between Jews and gentiles. For me, I look at it as person to person. No grouping or classification. We should treat people as people. I feel like humanity as a whole has lost sight of that. And that is an incredible loss.

We have lost true feelings, the ability to give, and knowing that humans are humans. Maybe the Mayans were right. The world didn't physically end but the concept of "humanity". People kill and steal and judge. We are alive but dead. It's the end of what we think to be humane and right. And to me that is worse than a physical destroying of the world. It leaves nothing to truly be lived for. And that is awful.

What do you feel has been lost?

Stay Strong
xo Aria