Journal of Sacred Work

A spiritual truth that I have experienced…is that whatever we do to another we actually do to ourselves.                                    –Elizabeth Wessel, R.N., M.S. – St. Joseph Health System, Orange, California

I was so struck by the above comment, posted by Ms. Wessel in the Journal, that I wanted to highlight it for today’s meditation. What if what she says is true? What if "whatever we do to another we actually do to ourselves?"

If we lived this truth and followed the winding path to compassion, imagine the impact on our lives. This nurse’s observation is a concise explanation of the reason why true caregiving – those extra Samaritan-like efforts special people make – is so rewarding…

Why are we surprised when caregiving ends up blessing us in surprising ways? Perhaps because we may have, at the beginning, reached out begrudgingly. "I don’t really want to make this extra effort," some part of our mind tells us. But the heart says yes. And in the giving, we receive. "I’m was so surprised by how good I felt after helping someone I didn’t really want to help," I often hear caregivers say.

Equally powerful is the impact of the unkind things we do. Each time we strike a blow against another in a mean-spirited way, the near edge of the blade cuts us. When we wound another, we wound ourselves.

If we need rewards for our behavior (and most of us do) this may well be all we need to know to motivate us toward love. But we need to go beyond just the knowing. We must absorb this truth into our being so that it guides our actions.

When we hate another, we are harming ourselves. Consider the toxic feeling that wells up in you whenever you allow your energy to focus on the deeds of some enemy. And when we consciously ignore a cry for help, we also hurt ourselves. We know this is true, don’t we? I think of times I’ve been mean or selfish and know how this has wounded me as well as the other.

We all carry the scars of our own cruelty. Yet these scars begin to heal as we reach to help another beyond our own need. When we love another, we heal ourselves as well. That is the surprising gift of loving care. The calling of caregiving is to love people who often seem "unlovable." The reward is that, when we live love, God’s light illuminates our souls.