HotTopics: What Have You Done for Me Lately?

It hasn't been too many years since the song "What Have You Done for Me Lately?" came out. Little did we realize at the time that this particular song would almost become the theme song for the western world in general. People now look suspiciously at each other and say, "What's in it for me?" or "Why should I? I don't owe him anything!" or "That's not in MY best interest."

How did we get to be such an egocentric society? Where has respect and consideration for one another gone? Are we so programmed now that these things seem normal to us, even adopting these ideas ourselves? Do we automatically look for personal gain in every situation?

Western society as a whole has taken the selfish approach in almost every action we perform. Have you noticed that someone may not hold a door open long enough for you to get through, but rather just let it slam in your face? Do the drivers in traffic act like they just have to get your spot in your lane, whizzing around you or changing lanes shoving you off the road because they think their destination and reason for travel is more important than yours? Of course, almost every driver has had a parking space "stolen" by another hurried driver when you were patiently waiting for the space to open up for you.

Where is respect? What happened to manners? Is consideration for others obsolete? I'm not saying that people never care for each other. Total compassion is not completely gone. We have seen how the masses have come together to donate goods, services, and food for victims affected by the rash of natural disasters that have hit every continent in the world in the last few years. That's not the issue. In our day to day lives, without tragedy or crises, do we live our lives with a generous spirit? Now that we are in Advent, awaiting Christmas, the birth of Christ, we may think a little more about giving of ourselves. Do we also think about what we want for Christmas? Are we caught up in the material things that pass through our hands and into our hands during this time of year? Do we understand the true meaning of Advent and Christmas, and is it only 4 weeks out of our year that we think of others?

Advent is a time of preparation in the Catholic Church, which reminds us that we should be looking at ourselves spiritually on an individual basis. We are supposed to cleanse ourselves so that we may be more worthy to properly greet Our Lord on His birthday. But do we really bother with this? Or is our Christmas shopping list just too long to think of anything else?

Maybe we are quietly disgusted at the way society has turned selfish, but just feel that "oh well, there's nothing I can do about it. Live and let live." But I say that just one person can make a difference, changing first our own thoughts and behavior. What if we all put at the tops of our Christmas lists --as priority one-- a gift that is free, a gift that is always available, a gift that can be given to everyone without exception, a gift that no one minds receiving over and over again year after year: the gift of brotherly love.

Jesus very clearly summarized all 10 of the Commandments given to Moses by these two He mentioned as the greatest of all. God's original 10 Commandments are really just subtopics under these two headings: Love of God, and Love of Neighbor. Loving our neighbor takes in 7 of the 10, as God apparently felt He had to spell it out to us what all this entails. I submit that it goes even further than those 7: honor your father and mother; do not kill; do not steal; do not bear false witness against your neighbor; do not covet your neighbor's goods or wife. We probably would all do well to just follow these 7 rules. However, it is not all that Jesus calls us to do when He told us to "love one's neighbor as himself." Jesus's second commandment infers much more than killing or lying or stealing or desiring. It directly refers to how we treat each other--period! We are called to put ourselves in another's shoes, to see things from the other's standpoint, and then ask ourselves: "Is this the way I would like to be treated?"

Can you imagine how society would change if each of us just lived this great commandment of Jesus? Just one person at a time.... Eventually, it could become the norm for society. It is a great gift to receive: respect, kindness, consideration, and compassion. Wouldn't we all like to be on the receiving end of a selfless gift such as this? All of us, all people, rich or poor, sick or well, male or female, young or old, are children of God. Jesus is the Son of God, which makes us spiritual brothers and sisters of Christ. If we view each other in that light, it might be easier to approach one another with kindness out of love. Practicing this becomes habit. Habit becomes a way of life. Over time, it will be part of our very nature, and we will automatically respond out of brotherly love in every situation.

Let us all give each other the greatest gift we can give: this Advent, this Christmas, let us all see the Face of Jesus superimposed on those around us, and imagine Him saying: "What have you done for Me lately?"

I belong to several webrings, all of which have the intention of being a positive contributor to the internet; and, they contain websites who support the webmasters' ideals. However, occasionally there will be a website that will sneak into a webring and subsequently change their substance to more objectionable material. If you discover one of these sites by visiting one of the webrings I have joined, I would appreciate you emailing me with the URL of the site and the name of the webring it belongs to, so that I may pursue either my association with the webring, or the other website's association. For the most part, I believe webrings are marvelous tools for assisting web-surfers in finding information about the subjects they are interested in! I hope you enjoy all these wonderful rings of love!