This
week’s Q&A answers questions that I have received about the nature
of heart opening and compassion vortexes, a term I use to describe
events and situations that are designed to help people forget their
differences and distractions and come together for a common purpose,
usually to help or support others. This incident happened on my recent
road trip across the southern part of the U.S., in Augusta, Georgia.
I had visited a couple of places in Augusta, including the riverfront
where I did some energy release work and I was ready to drive to my
next destination. As I rounded the corner on the road, I saw something
lying in the street. I slowed down and got into the next lane and saw a
man on the road, convulsing violently. So I backed up and parked my car
in front of him (so no one would run over him), grabbed my cell phone
and dialed 911 as I ran up to him. He was alive but incoherent, his eyes
were rolling in his head and I thought he was dying. Although there
were businesses and activity all around, no one was coming to his aid,
except me.
I ran back to my car and got my beach towel to put under the man’s head and another man pulled up next to us, got out of his car and together we carried the man to the side of the road, to get him off of the street. The 911 operator told me what to do to get him comfortable until the ambulance arrived. Just then a dozen people arrived to see what was going on and then everyone wanted to help. While they had all seen the man fall, none of them had come to help him until they saw others helping him.
The ambulance arrived, along with two police cars, we were questioned about what happened and one of the ambulance drivers began to search his pockets for some form of identification. She pulled out his wallet and as she opened it, I could see photos of young children, probably his grandchildren, next to his driver’s license. As I saw those photos I began to cry because he wasn’t just a man who was lying in the street, he had family, a life and people he loved and who probably loved him. I don’t know if he was a vagrant, drug addict or just someone who had a sudden medical emergency, he was a human being, a child of God, someone who needed help and support in that moment. If I hadn’t been driving carefully and paying attention, I could have run over him as he lay there in the street, and possibly killed him, or he could have been run over by someone else.
After he was put into the ambulance and was on his way to the hospital, the police gave me back my beach towel and told me that I was free to go. The other people began to drift away and go back to their lives and I was on the road again. But for that moment in time, we were connected by our desire to help someone in need, to focus on this person who could have been any one of us. Did this man’s situation make others pause to think about their own lives, about how quickly something can happen and how we can find ourselves in need of support and help from others? Does it take one person to step forward and open their heart to answer someone else’s call for help before others will too?
I wondered what would have happened to that man if I hadn’t stopped my car. Would others have just driven by, thinking he was a drunk or drug addict? Would he have been run over and killed by a driver who didn’t see him until it was too late? What would his family have thought about that, or the children whose photos were in his wallet? Compassion vortexes will be created in response to our need to open our hearts to others, to understand the nature of our interconnection and our shared human experience, as they lead us out of our self-centered humanity into our Self-centered divinity, where we recognize the beauty, value, and worthiness of everyone. Jesus said, “Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me.” We are the family of humanity, every one of us is important, valued, valuable, worthy of love and worthy of compassion. I did a lot of heart opening work in Augusta and the response was immediate, a heart opening opportunity was created so that, for a moment, people could come together and help someone in need. And because of that, one man received the help he needed from strangers who were there to answer the call.
Copyright (c) 2013 by Jennifer Hoffman. All rights reserved. You may quote, translate or link to this article, on free, non-commercial and non-donation based websites only, as long as you include the author’s name and a working link back to this website, www.enlighteninglife.com. All other uses are strictly prohibited / link to original article
I ran back to my car and got my beach towel to put under the man’s head and another man pulled up next to us, got out of his car and together we carried the man to the side of the road, to get him off of the street. The 911 operator told me what to do to get him comfortable until the ambulance arrived. Just then a dozen people arrived to see what was going on and then everyone wanted to help. While they had all seen the man fall, none of them had come to help him until they saw others helping him.
The ambulance arrived, along with two police cars, we were questioned about what happened and one of the ambulance drivers began to search his pockets for some form of identification. She pulled out his wallet and as she opened it, I could see photos of young children, probably his grandchildren, next to his driver’s license. As I saw those photos I began to cry because he wasn’t just a man who was lying in the street, he had family, a life and people he loved and who probably loved him. I don’t know if he was a vagrant, drug addict or just someone who had a sudden medical emergency, he was a human being, a child of God, someone who needed help and support in that moment. If I hadn’t been driving carefully and paying attention, I could have run over him as he lay there in the street, and possibly killed him, or he could have been run over by someone else.
After he was put into the ambulance and was on his way to the hospital, the police gave me back my beach towel and told me that I was free to go. The other people began to drift away and go back to their lives and I was on the road again. But for that moment in time, we were connected by our desire to help someone in need, to focus on this person who could have been any one of us. Did this man’s situation make others pause to think about their own lives, about how quickly something can happen and how we can find ourselves in need of support and help from others? Does it take one person to step forward and open their heart to answer someone else’s call for help before others will too?
I wondered what would have happened to that man if I hadn’t stopped my car. Would others have just driven by, thinking he was a drunk or drug addict? Would he have been run over and killed by a driver who didn’t see him until it was too late? What would his family have thought about that, or the children whose photos were in his wallet? Compassion vortexes will be created in response to our need to open our hearts to others, to understand the nature of our interconnection and our shared human experience, as they lead us out of our self-centered humanity into our Self-centered divinity, where we recognize the beauty, value, and worthiness of everyone. Jesus said, “Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me.” We are the family of humanity, every one of us is important, valued, valuable, worthy of love and worthy of compassion. I did a lot of heart opening work in Augusta and the response was immediate, a heart opening opportunity was created so that, for a moment, people could come together and help someone in need. And because of that, one man received the help he needed from strangers who were there to answer the call.
Copyright (c) 2013 by Jennifer Hoffman. All rights reserved. You may quote, translate or link to this article, on free, non-commercial and non-donation based websites only, as long as you include the author’s name and a working link back to this website, www.enlighteninglife.com. All other uses are strictly prohibited / link to original article