How to heal a broken society

Is the act of helping people enough to heal a broken society? Indeed, is patching people up and sending them back into the world really healing? The answer is surprisingly complicated.

The initial response from most people is “yes“, helping is a good thing. Indeed, we human beings often need the help of others to get us through tough times.

As the English poet John Donne wrote: “No man is an island”. We need each other. In fact, I’ve often noticed that when we look into the eyes of others we see our own reflection. I guess that goes some way to explaining why so many people tell me that helping others makes them feel good. On that score they freely admit to helping for reasons of self-interest.

The only problem with that is the help becomes an emotional transaction.

Could we do more?

I reckon we miss something big in the emotional transaction of helping others. You see, I am fascinated by how we humans tend to lose ourselves in the ‘now’. All of our senses become consumed by one moment in time.

This can happen when we are earnestly talking with someone, listening to their words or staring into their eyes; the to-ing and fro-ing of communications is instant, timeless and ‘now’.

In those moments we seem to vanish into the ‘now’. When we are in those moments there seems to be no pain or suffering. Our minds tend to open to something bigger; something healing and free. It’s something we miss if helping is simply transactional.

The more we have the less we can give

I have also noticed that the fewer possessions I own, the more profound the experience of helping can be. You might think it strange, but I’ve learn this from the homeless and the refugees I’ve known.

It is people who have nothing to give who miraculously manage to give you the most important things. Indeed, I’ve learned that the more I hold onto something, the less I can give to others.

Age-old wisdom unheeded

The spiritual gurus, swamis, priests and mystics have been saying all these things for thousands of years. Yet for some reason people didn’t want to listen.

The gurus, swamis, priests and mystics all pointed to a higher and greater reality, but the people preferred a different reality filled with more Earthly pleasures.

Healing our broken society

Alas, our Earthly reality brings on isolation and loneliness; division and wars; dictators and abusers; mistrust and manipulation. So it’s hardly surprising society feels broken. Societal anxiety and depression are rife; and more people are lonelier than ever.

There’s a pervasive sense of emptiness and a yearning for it to be filled. However, that won’t happen through helping alone. I think that bigger, spiritual dimension needs to be discovered in order for society to start healing.

I don’t think society can fix itself otherwise. Without a spiritual dimension to the core of life we are like the mythological “Jason and the Argonauts“; sailing around and heading for nowhere.

Connection becomes a transformative activator

Helping is good, but without the spiritual connection to our fellow human beings it’s surely not enough.

That’s not to belittle the countless acts of kindness happening everywhere every day. Indeed the goodwill is there, but kindness without connection is somewhat shallow.

I think we need to begin searching for greater connection; call it a spiritual connection if you will, to enable people and society to heal. Indeed, it is the spiritual connection that becomes the transformative activator which enables healing to occur. Only in that connection can we truly understand others and in doing so heal our own souls.

This form of spiritual connection can also be called loving compassion. Here too, the gurus and swamis have lead the way, telling is it comes from a bottomless well.

When we embrace the spiritual connection – the loving compassion – we begin to affect real healing in society. What’s more, we don’t feel so alone and isolated.