Am I my brother’s keeper? 1
17th May 2009
Hello lovely people
I recently read a very interesting book The Bookseller of Kabul written by Åsne Seierstad. The book provides a snapshot of an Afghan family and their daily lives. From a Western point of view the patriarchal society and the oppression of both women and men is probably shocking, but for those people it is a way of life.
The book raised an interesting question for me. The question does not only cover large issues such as making war against another country with a different culture. Think about smaller issues such as abortions, arranged marriages, or parents putting pressure on children to follow particular careers. Or how about aid workers bringing relief to countries where there is famine and dis-ease, but not being accepted by the local people? And should female circumcision be stopped? Is it right for a parent to refuse blood transfusions for a critically ill child? Should people be prevented from choosing euthanasia or assisted suicide?
Ok, I agree, none of these issues are small. But all of them raise the same question for me. If we belief in free will and that people make their choices before they enter into this world, surely those people chose their lives here on this earth and it is not for me as an individual to interfere and force my choices upon them? Or am I supposed to step in and help them out of their ignorance? Where do we draw the line in terms of getting involved personally?
Many people would say that for adults that are in a position to stand up for themselves it makes sense to leave them alone to live their destiny, but what about vulnerable adults and children?
We need to understand that people are mature souls when they come into this world. A baby might be vulnerable, but the soul of that baby is probably a soul that chose to incarnate into this life. In that sense anything that happens to babies are a part of their personal blueprint. What happens to the baby happens for a reason, and that reason involves for example the parents, the grandparents and the medical staff that are involved with a sick child.
For example, a baby is born with a defective heart and the life expectation of the baby is not very long, unless the parents authorise the medical staff to perform a potentially dangerous operation that might save the life of the baby. But what if that baby, in other words that soul, chose to incarnate with that medical condition in agreement with the parents and the medical staff? What if the parents incarnated because they had to have the experience of making decisions about the lives of other people?
To be continued
Please leave a comment if you feel inspired.
Love and Light
Elsabe
