Take The Chance

What is the knocking? What is the knocking at the door in the night It is somebody who wants to do us harm. No, no. It is three strange angels. Admit them, admit then. ~Friedrich Holderlin

There were, amid all the arocities of the Holocaust, those who dared to go against the terrible tide and help one another. This is just one of those stories.

In Poland, three Jews were hiding in a hut in the woods. Suddenly there was a knocking at the door; fearing the Nazis, they were terrified to answer - they knew what the concentration camps held. But they also wondered if it were a fellow Jew needing help. So they decided to answer the door and discovered two injured Polish soldiers, their enemies, badly bleeding. Even though they had only a tiny bit of food, they shared what they had and nursed the soldiers back to health. When the soldiers were better, they used their knowledge and credentials to help their rescuers escape to safety.

We are constantly faced with choices in life. Most force us to choose between safety and risk. The risk in our lives is usually not as dramatic as it was for the people in this story. But it is risk nonetheless.

When we choose to open our hearts to another, we risk great pain and heartbreak. When we offer something of ourselves to another, we risk rejection. When we choose to stand up for what we believe in, we risk ridicule or persecution. Sometimes, particularly in the moment when we must choose, the fear is so strong that it seems that we should simply retreat, opting to be safe. Yet in the instant we choose to be safe, we have already done ourselves the greatest harm, for we have cut ourselves off from the potential of warmth and comfort from others.

We are brought into this world feeling helpless and alone. Our task is to consciously build the connections that will return us to the all-embracing heart of humanity. But we can find our way only if we are willing to take the chances we are offered.

*+*GoodHeartz*+*
Keep The Faithz! XD