The words may be old fashioned, but the meaning of them is not. In 1843, Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol partly in response to the byproducts of an unchecked Industrial Revolution, as witnessed during his 20 mile daily walks through London. In this book, which we all know, but may not have really listened to or read, Marley’s Ghost responds to Scrooge’s appeal to him as a “man of business.” Marley, doomed to walk the earth and witness what he was now powerless to stop, replies,
“Business!” cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. “Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!”
Read it again. Take a moment and reflect on what obligation to family means, what a family is. Don’t we share common blood with every human being on this earth? Don’t we all share a common ancestry? How do you treat your brother or sister? And how does that compare with how you treat your neighbor? Or a stranger? The reason your brother or sister has special worth to you is because of their relation to you. In another’s eyes, they are a stranger. Why don’t we just treat everyone like the brother and sister that they are?
Think about this and be still for a moment. Listen to your heart and allow it to guide your words and actions toward others. The more we ALL have our eyes watching the backs of others, the less we need to have them watching our own…
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
A very Christian sentiment for this author. While it’s pretty and morally in-arguable. It’s not realistic. There is an old Chinese saying; “One must first drink from the well before nourishing others.”
I admit, the second half of the second sentence was an out of place brush stroke on an otherwise warm and beautiful painting. But that s who you are. It s probably is poor form to point it out, like complaining about a Rockwell’s signature obscuring the lower right corner of his finished canvas.
Sincerely, good job. I’ve forwarded your article to my personal contact e-mail list. I do hope they take the time to see it’s more than the usual funny or interesting spam we generally send out to each other.
If you’re not being sarcastic, thank you.
What a wonderful way to start my day! Truely beautiful and moving. I hope it get’s passed along, especially to those who, like myself, are neck deep in day to day business stresses. Thanks