What does 'Care for others' mean?

Any true expression of care, I think, offers presence of some kind, though it may be no more than a greeting card. There are more demands on our attention than we can ever deal with. We cannot, as much as we would wish, meet every need, nor should we. There are times when we must measure the attention we give – not our care, but our expression of that care – not by another’s need, but by our ability to give. To do otherwise would be to hold another up at the expense of our own selves. It may also be to hold another in a place or emotional state that is unsustainable.

“Cure without care makes us into rulers, controllers, manipulators, and prevents a real community from taking shape. Cure without care makes us preoccupied with quick changes, impatient and unwilling to share each other’s burden.”

After years of giving food to the hungry, a person realized that these efforts, while important, were not enough. They relieved burdens of conscience for the rich, and met the need of people who cared about the poor, but they did little to change the system that kept people in poverty. As he began increasingly to care for the poor, he started questioning openly those governmental policies that favored the wealthy at the expense of the destitute. Years later, he commented, “When I gave food to the poor, they called me a saint. When I asked why the poor were hungry, they called me a communist.”

The truest gift is not to fix anything but to acknowledge the depth and reality of human experience. When we recognize that our care is our own feeling, our own need, we may then become better able to express that care in ways that touch other people. Ironically, it is when we acknowledge our own powerlessness that we become empowered.

Communities care. We care for each other, we care at least about and hopefully for the world beyond our borders, and we care for our community. That means journeying with one another, being open to problems that are not always solved, listening to one another and acknowledging the reality of experience from which we voice our expectations, concerns, sorrows, celebrations, stories. It means respecting the dignity of affliction and the dignity of humanity. It means bringing hope when hope is hard to find.

It really doesn’t take that much. A gentle word here, a smile there, a conversation, a visit, a kindness. We may never see how much of a difference we are making, but I tell you, it is that care that is the difference between Heaven and Hell. It is that care which lifts us from isolation to hope. It is that care which brings us once again into the communion of the divine.

[... Care for others and share whatever you have with those less fortunate than you, Celebrate Life. ...]