Have you seen the movie ‘Pay it Forward’?
In it a social studies teacher challenges a young boy to think of something that could change the world, then put it into action. He comes up with the concept of paying a favor ‘forward’, instead of paying a favor back. The impact is felt in not only his, his mother’s and his teacher’s lives, but in those of a rippling circle of people unknown to him. I totally love this movie, and the philosophy of Paying it Forward.
My friend Janie recommended the Birdy song ‘People Help The People’ to me the other day. I listened and by the end had big fat tears streaming down my face. Every once in a while a song comes along that truly speaks through its lyrics. This beautiful song spoke to me, to the lost and lonely soul I think lives somewhere inside all of us. Somewhere in the collected emotions, fears, passions and pain we all share. Every one of us knows what it is to hide sorrow behind a smile. Inside, we aren’t so different…we all wake up under the same sun, go to sleep under the same moon, and when we hurt we all cry the same salty tears.
Were the ‘pay it forward’ mentality to grow an increasing number of people would be helping others while asking nothing in return. Attitudes would change and people would become more accommodating, more giving, and more willing to help. Think of the ways this would impact not only the individual, but the collective and global communities.
To often people {myself included} worry about all the wrong things, like status, wealth, possessions…and rarely see the intrinsic value in simple goodness. Regardless of how successfully you navigate the currents of society if you lack compassion for others, your success amounts to nothing.
God knows what is hiding in that weak and drunken heart
I guess you kissed the girls and made them cry
those hard-faced queens of misadventure
God knows what is hiding in those weak and sunken eyes
a fiery throng of muted angels
giving love and getting nothing back
People help the people
and if your homesick, give me your hand and i’ll hold it
People help the people
and nothing will drag you down
oh and if I had a brain, oh and if I had a brain
I’d be cold as a stone and rich as the fool
that turned, all those good hearts away
God knows what is hiding, in that world of little consequence
behind the tears, inside the lies
a thousand slowly dying sunsets
God knows what is hiding in those weak and drunken hearts
I guess the loneliness came knocking
no-one needs to be alone, oh save me
People help the people
and if your homesick, give me your hand and i’ll hold it
People help the people
nothing will drag you down
oh and if I had a brain, oh and if I had a brain
I’d be cold as a stone and rich as the fool
that turned, all those good hearts away
We seldom know what lies beneath the surface of anothers actions. The car that cut you off this morning could have been madly dashing to the hospital. The sarcastic store clerk may be on the verge of bankruptcy. The persistent telemarketer might be working on commission and have empty cupboards with 3 children to feed. The neighbor that snubbed you, it could be she discovered a lump in her breast this morning. What you see is only ever one page in the story.
I think the lyrics ‘if I had a brain, I’d be cold as a stone and rich as a fool, that turned all those good hearts away‘, speak to the folly of a purely ‘head’ lead life as opposed to a ‘heart’ lead life. Fear often leads the ‘head’, whereas bravery is an outpouring of the ‘heart’. Wholehearted living allows us to embrace tenderness and react compassionately.
People help the people
and if your homesick, give me your hand and I’ll hold it
People help the people
nothing will drag you down
oh and if I had a brain, oh and if I had a brain
I’d be cold as a stone and rich as the fool
that turned, all those good hearts away
We are always more afraid than we wish to be, but we can always be braver than we expect.
