Am I My Brother’s Keeper?

By Sr Mary Thadavanal MSMHC

Where is your brother? Am I my brother’s keeper?

These fundamental questions will continue to keep reverberating in the air, reaching the ends of the earth… knocking at every person’s heart, but the echo gets submerged in the noise of anger, greed, avarice, hatred, callousness, insensitivity…and a host of other negativities without being able to touch consciences that need to be touched.

I chanced to see a video released by National Geography, where a crocodile having captured a deer was about to enjoy a full meal. The helpless victim surrendered itself to death and lay in the mouth of the crocodile. The crocodile was about to take the first bite, when something unbelievable happened. It felt life pulsating inside the deer and sensed the deer was pregnant. Immediately the crocodile let off its victim from its hold!!! I sat stunned as my mind raced from the cruelty of humans to the compassion of animals!!!

There was this ‘dangerous’ crocodile, bowing itself before a throbbing life in the womb of a deer over against the images of charred bodies and blood-smeared faces of babies and mothers, mass graves, men and women of all ages running breathlessly to escape the jaws of death in the most atrocious act of war declared by the so-called humans.

Before a crocodile, amazingly sensitive to life, stands the man totally insensitive to the right of another even to exist on the face of the earth! Compassion versus cruelty, where you least expect!!

When Satan is given dominance over a human mind, he roots out every sense of morality from it and replaces with an inflated ego, and an unexplainable craving for worldly riches, prestige and name enticing to get them by any unethical means possible, sacrificing all forms of righteousness. Every crime begins in a corrupted mind and every kind deed begins in an educated mind. Fortunately, there are more educated minds on the planet than the derailed ones. Through such persons God continues to send messages across that He is still in-charge.

During a war in Japan, a small boy was found carrying his dead brother on his back to bury him. A soldier noticed him and asked him to throw this dead child so that he would not get tired. The boy replied: He’s not heavy, he’s my brother! The soldier understood and broke down in tears. Since then, this image seems to have become a symbol of unity in Japan. ‘He is my brother!’ no wonder Jesus points out to the world a child and says ‘unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven’ Mt 18:3.

In the Rio Olympics there were two blood brothers – Jonathan Brownlee and Alistair Brownlee – participating in the running race. Just minutes from the finish line, Jonathan Brownlee held a commanding lead before falling victim to heat exhaustion. At the time, with his brother looking down and out, Alistair was in with a chance of winning the race himself. But instead, seeing his brother with heat exhaustion, Alistair decided to help his brother to the finish line in one of the most dramatic moments in the history of the sport. Alistair caught up, putting his arm around his older sibling, carried him over the finish line of the World Series Finale. What a moment! The Brownlee brothers inspired a generation with this incredible sporting moment. Later somebody interviewed Alistair who stepped aside to help his brother cross over to victory, to know what made him do what he did. He said, ‘my mother would not have been happy if I had left my brother just standing there’. Their educated mother educated her sons in turn and made them unforgettable contributors of selfless love to the world. Alistair proved himself his brother’s keeper. An evangelizer watching this scene commented Jesus seem to be saying to us ‘your Father in heaven wouldn’t like you to run and enter heaven leaving your sinner brother and sister stumbling and lying down exhausted’.

The most urgent need of today is to educate parents in whose hands lie the destiny of humanity. Securing the first position in all possible exams and filling one’s brain with all the knowledge available on the globe need not make a person educated if all that the person has achieved are used for building an empire for himself on the dead dreams of his brother. True wisdom comes from the righteous and holy God.

Of the many leaders the world misses today is Dr. Abdul Kalam. With a complete positive outlook to everything, his words had the power to ignite spark of hope in those who could see only a massive wall before them with no hope of any fortune crossing their path. He lost no time to inspire the young with high ideals and helping them find opportunities for the realization of their dreams. He challenged them to dream big and go for the stars.

Speaking at the European Union, Dr. Kalam said, ‘where there is righteousness in the heart, there is beauty in the character. Where there is beauty in the character, there is harmony in the home. When there is harmony in the home, there is order in the nation. When there is order in the nations, there is peace in the world. These heart-touching lines touched the souls of all the EU members present there.

If a single lighted candle can dispel the darkness of a room, many single acts of love and kindness, compassion and selfless giving can radiate positivity removing greed and hatred from human hearts, making the world a home where everyone can find a safe and decent place to live in.

Are we promoters of goodness? What do our eyes pick up in this vast world of many happenings? What do our hearts honour? With whom do we associate?

One day Jesus sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. Calling his disciples to himself, Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.” Mk 12: 41-44

At the sight of the woman Jesus’ soul stirred. Only when our souls are fine tuned to God, we see what Jesus saw and our souls get stirred at the misery our brothers and sisters are subjected to and jump into life promoting action.

Nelson Mandela of happy memories seem to have narrated an incident that happened in his life, when an occasion called for. He was having lunch in a restaurant with his friends when he recognized a man sitting at a table in front of him. He asked the man to join him at lunch. He came and sat in front of him but sat looking down and ate his food. Never once looked up. When they had finished the meal, Mandela got up and told the man ‘see you’ and left the place. Mandela’s friends asked him why he didn’t take the initiative to talk to the poor man. Mandela explained to his companions that the man used to be a guard in the prison where he was jailed. “Often, after the torture I was subjected to, I used to scream and ask for a little water. The very same man used to come every time and urinate on my head instead. The guard probably expected some sort of retaliation, but this is not my character,” Mandela said.

A WhatsApp message that has been going around a number of times is worth quoting here.

A woman climbed up the bus and sat down beside a man, hitting him with her numerous bags. When the man remained silent, the woman asked him why he did not complain when she hit him with her bags. The man replied with a smile: “There is no need to be upset about something so insignificant as our journey together is so short, because I am getting off at the next stop”. This answer disturbed the woman so much that she asked the man for an apology and thought the words need to be written in gold.

The understanding of the shortness of life stops one from darkening it with useless arguments and negativity, reactions and graveyard silence battles and war. If someone gets on to your nerves, stay calm. The trip is too short.

If someone betrays you, intimidate or humiliates you, stay relaxed. The trip is too short.

If someone passes unpleasant comments on you, forgive. The trip is too short.

If someone who stays with you is tough to deal with, sow seeds of kindness round the person for the trip together may be too short.

Preserve your gracious smile for everyone you meet, for no one knows how many will see the morrow.