The Reading Today
• Daily Theme: Acting as if we love, natural altruism versus spiritual duty, and the danger of seeking gratitude.
• Source Material: Mere Christianity
• Source Material: Mere Christianity
My Reflection
Today’s passage discusses love in the context of one’s neighbours. I do not take Lewis literally when he uses the term ‘neighbour’ as meaning only those who happen to live right next door to us; I feel he simply means anyone we come into contact with during our daily lives.
Lewis suggests that if we act as if we love someone, we will eventually come to actually love them. While I appreciate the sentiment, I feel that most people I know are already naturally helpful and willing to support others when they can. Altruism is a natural state for many—it is what I consider to be a fundamental part of human nature. There are always exceptions to every rule, but it is rare that I meet people completely devoid of this characteristic. I genuinely cannot remember a time when I offered help to someone purely for selfish reasons, or calculated what benefit it could bring me, unless it was a strictly mutual arrangement.
Of course, there are always those ready to take advantage of human kindness. My local shopkeeper recently offered credit to a customer, who promptly ran up a £280 bill and then vanished without a trace. The shopkeeper told me they are now incredibly wary of offering credit to anyone else, and I feel they have very good reason to be. Our natural altruism can easily be bruised.
Yet, my default position is always to try and help where I can. I like feeling helpful; I think most of us do. No doubt Lewis would have something to say about that and my potentially misguided motivations. He warns today that doing a good turn just to show what a "fine forgiving chap you are," or waiting around for gratitude, will only lead to disappointment. Perhaps he would view my enjoyment of being helpful as a flaw. But to me, if the action is good and the person is helped, questioning the purity of the underlying emotional motivation feels like overcomplicating the simple, decent act of being human.
Historical Footnote (10th September)
1905: George MacDonald, the Scottish author whose writings greatly influenced Lewis, dies at age eighty.
1956: Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold is published by Geoffrey Bles, London.
Today’s passage discusses love in the context of one’s neighbours. I do not take Lewis literally when he uses the term ‘neighbour’ as meaning only those who happen to live right next door to us; I feel he simply means anyone we come into contact with during our daily lives.
Lewis suggests that if we act as if we love someone, we will eventually come to actually love them. While I appreciate the sentiment, I feel that most people I know are already naturally helpful and willing to support others when they can. Altruism is a natural state for many—it is what I consider to be a fundamental part of human nature. There are always exceptions to every rule, but it is rare that I meet people completely devoid of this characteristic. I genuinely cannot remember a time when I offered help to someone purely for selfish reasons, or calculated what benefit it could bring me, unless it was a strictly mutual arrangement.
Of course, there are always those ready to take advantage of human kindness. My local shopkeeper recently offered credit to a customer, who promptly ran up a £280 bill and then vanished without a trace. The shopkeeper told me they are now incredibly wary of offering credit to anyone else, and I feel they have very good reason to be. Our natural altruism can easily be bruised.
Yet, my default position is always to try and help where I can. I like feeling helpful; I think most of us do. No doubt Lewis would have something to say about that and my potentially misguided motivations. He warns today that doing a good turn just to show what a "fine forgiving chap you are," or waiting around for gratitude, will only lead to disappointment. Perhaps he would view my enjoyment of being helpful as a flaw. But to me, if the action is good and the person is helped, questioning the purity of the underlying emotional motivation feels like overcomplicating the simple, decent act of being human.
Historical Footnote (10th September)
1905: George MacDonald, the Scottish author whose writings greatly influenced Lewis, dies at age eighty.
1956: Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold is published by Geoffrey Bles, London.
Why This Matters
We do not always need to over-analyse our motives for doing good. While Lewis warns against seeking gratitude or showing off, the simple human desire to be helpful is a perfectly decent starting point for building a kinder community.
My Action for Today
Today, I will continue to default to helping where I can, accepting that while people may occasionally take advantage, the act of being helpful is a reward in itself.
Today, I will continue to default to helping where I can, accepting that while people may occasionally take advantage, the act of being helpful is a reward in itself.
Reader Question
Do you think it matters why someone does a good deed, as long as the good deed gets done?
No comments:
Post a Comment