Something Borrowed ...

"Thousands of candles may be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared." ~ Buddha

   Perhaps what separates the civilized from the savage is not art, or wisdom, or technology, or government, because these things, in some capacity, exist in every human community. Perhaps what makes a human civilized, moral, and decent is the capacity for sharing. To give what is yours to those without, to lend what you have to those who need. For what can be said about a person who, when asked to let a neighbor in from the rain, would turn their neighbor away in the name of privacy?

    The act of borrowing is a pact and a contract of the most intimate and trusting nature to be found in human society. My neighbor has no shovel, so I loan her mine, trusting that she will return it to me intact (or make amends if she cannot). It is perhaps the simplest but most telling indicator of trust between people. And the significance of such a minor thing can be easily overlooked.

    What, I ask, would the world be if no one ever lent, shared, or borrowed? An all-or-nothing fray of specific, strict ownership, of purchase and sale, of gift and theft. What was yours is now mine. All mine. The definition of neighbor would be forever debased, and perhaps the character of friendship as well. Think of the last time you borrowed something from someone - what is your relationship to this person? What change in your feelings toward this person would there have been if they denied your request? Say you need transportation to pick up your sister at the airport, but your car hasn't been running for days. You ask your best friend if you may use his car. And he lets you. Because he sees something to gain by doing so? Certainly not. Because he feels obligated by some force of law to allow it? No. Because you are his friend, and he loves you. Because he would not see you troubled. 

    It is comforting to learn that here in this bizarre and troublesome realm I currently call "home", I have at arm's length such warm and genuine friends, who have opened their home to me, and invited me to their [figurative] table, under no other compulsion than the goodness of their hearts and their esteem for my company. I find myself unable to express in spoken word my deep and real appreciation for the kindness and hospitality they have shown, and continue to show me. It is my hope that amongst my [few] readers, those of whom I speak can be reached witht this message of gratitude, and that the rest may be reminded never to undervalue the kindness of sharing, and the neighborly bond of borrowing.

    Tonight as I write, my heart is touched, and my spirits raised. And it is my hope that when the reader has finished this passage, that he/she will think about what he/she values as his/her own. And then I hope that he/she will consider how it may be shared to the benefit of his/her brother, sister, friend, or neighbor. Learn, if you have not already, the joy, and discover the reward of that pure and minute mioracle of humanity: sharing.