A New Spirituality

As time passes, we’re stepping away from our spirituality, into a more, physical plain of reality. Here, there is no room for God, only the science of change that’s moulding our society into some jungle beast that feels nothing for the prey it captures and kills for it’s dinner. It knows it’s own hunger, nothing more.
More and more I see the signs of apathy. It plagues our ideologies, our streets, and most of all, our media, the greatest teacher of all. You need only watch one episode of ‘The Aprentice’ to know what I mean. Through the influence of roll models, such as, Donald Trump, we’re taught that the roots of success are in knowing when your rivals (or peers) have their back turned so you can drive the knife in. What’s worse is that this behavior is well accepted in todays society. We praise the ruthless corporate guy simply for the wads of disposable income afforded to him as he claws, and betrays his way to the top.
It’s obvious that we, as a society, have conveniently dropped the ‘community’ principals of the past in favour of the ‘individual’. We’ve backed away from what we’ve all learned in Sunday school, and replaced it with Monday night TV.
Truth be told, it’s not all bad. The church is a relic. A throwback to a time when men huddled in their caves praying for the rains to stop, and the sun to come out again. To them, only God was up to such a task. Today, we, as a species, control it all. We are the masters, and have no room for God. It doesn’t mean that we have to completely give up our spirituality, but rather addopt a new form of faith. A faith in each other, where every man/woman/child is God. Where we seek each other’s guidance, or forgiveness. In our new faith, maybe we can find a renewed source of compassion. One that doesn’t say, “they did it to themselves, they can deal with it”, but rather says, “they made a mistake and need our help”.

I recall, not to long ago walking downtown Toronto and every block was some poor individual, asking for a handout. Between myself, and my fiance, we often carry pockets full of loonies and toonies to give away. As I approached one man, ready to drop some coin in his hat, his attention was on a clean cut, suit-and-tie-guy talking on his cell. Too far away to hear their exchange of words, I saw this poor man reach out with his hat, hoping that the man would make it a bit heavier. Instead, this pillar of society, this valuable asset to the economy, this suit wearing, polo smelling hero walks past the man, brushing past his, held out, hat nearly knocking it out of his grasp. Then he proceeded to glare at the poor individual like you would to a telemarketer, if only you could transmit a play by play of your face through the phone. Ahhh. Our hero.

Another time, I asked a friend as to why she refused to give vagrants money. As she put it, “they only buy drugs or alcohol with it.”
My reply was simple; “So what. Let them. You’re going to go home tonight, lock yourself safely in your home. Go to your fridge and grab a nice snack, then cozy up on your couch and watch a bit of TV. He’ll be here, in this doorway, chugging back mouthwash, and likely urinating on himself.”
Her response was priceless, “So, I work for my money. Why should I give it to him?”
To which I could only say, “There’s a reason he’s here, and I doubt it’s because he’s lazy. Nobody wants to eat out of garbage cans because it’s easier than the 9-5. He may be sick. He may be unskilled, or his brain may simply be wired wrong, but whatever it is, he does not WANT to be here. You don’t have to give your hard earned cash. You don’t have to do anything. Just don’t ignore him. Don’t write him off, don’t try to reform him and don’t pretend that he doesn’t matter.”