Hang On, Help is on the...Way?

 Anyone in their late thirties or older probably remembers the song I used for the title of this post. It was recorded by the Australian group, Little River Band, and was a big hit back in the 1970's. I was probably six or seven when the song was released. This week the whole theme of helping people went very deep for me. One of my greatest joys in life is to help others. I live for it. I believe my main purpose in life is to do just that. Sometimes though helping people is another person's call. And when the help that is so innocent and needed gets interfered with and shot down I can feel the inner portion of my being wince in pain. You ever feel like that? I hate that feeling. A lot of us work so hard to bring change and make a difference. Most of us have an innate desire to help our fellow man. One thing I have figured out though is not everything has to be planned out. Not every call to action to lend a hand needs a process. People are hanging on. Is help really on the way?

 Churches, schools and non-profit organizations need help. Everywhere in this world there are organizations and people who are desperate for help. I bet there is not a person alive today who has not either received or given a helping hand. In fact, I bet we all have done both many times. I think today though help is becoming harder to give when tied in with an organization. The thing that really gets me deep is, why does helping people have to be so hard? I am an action person. I see a need and I find a way to help. It's just what I do. I am sure a lot of you do too. It is great to see it in action. The problem is some people can't see past processes. These shortcomings can sometimes thwart needed help. I can't figure out why. These processes, while made with good intentions, sometimes let the innocent down. Maybe some of you think they protect. I am sure we could debate it all night. When children are negatively affected as a result you definitely have my attention. They are not to be messed with. They are not to be overlooked and passed over. And when they are I have a big problem with that.

 I understand processes are put in place because you can't nor shouldn't have chaos. Yes, I am an order kind of a guy (to a point) and can comprehend this notion. Power can be abused and so people need to know that they cannot just have carte blanche to do whatever. I am not saying people should be given a license to roll that way. However, we all have platforms we can use in our lives to help others. It looks different for each of us but nonetheless we all have them. My platforms are more community driven. I am the head of a particular organization in the community in which I live and I coach team sports. My reason for getting involved was to help and give back. I have to level with you though, the more I see deeper into organizations the more I wonder how anyone gets anything done. We can accomplish things all day long but are things really getting done? Processes are bunging things up. People who throw their authority around because they are afraid they will lose control are not helping. They are hurting. And they continue to blindly do so never seeing what is really important. They miss opportunity after opportunity and they don't even know it.

 You all are probably wondering what I am talking about. Part of the whole reason I started this blog was to speak to injustice. It is pervasive in our world. There are injustices everywhere. I experienced one this week. It was not on a grand level but enough to tweak me a whole lot. When you experience it yourself you take it more personal. I read a story in our local paper that brought joy to my heart. The first thing I wondered was how I could help. I got excited. That's a lot of us. We see something and ponder how we can help. I initiated an e-mail (following a process) and couldn't wait to see the help come to fruition. Unfortunately the help was shot down because of a technicality and a distorted view of authority. We could have helped. No one will ever convince me otherwise. All of us believe in something. Each of us, deep down to our core, wants to see our world made better. Helping others is truly awesome. It can inspire you to do more and inspire others to join. There are far more positives than there are negatives. I would even intimate there is not one single negative. There are just people. And unfortunately some are getting in the way of progress.

  I think what you may start to see is people forming their own "help" groups. Neighborhoods and communities banding together to get things done. I bet we would see more progress. There is no red tape and no egos. Rather there are people who just want to bring change. I don't know about you but I am not interested in the status quo. I don't want to be part of any organization that does things, and only does those things, because that is what they have always done. Change won't happen that way. People will not be helped. I am not here to kiss anyone's backside and neither should you. Lives won't be altered for the better with that in mind. I think this experience has inspired me to really do some serious contemplation. Maybe all of this is supposed to happen for reasons I don't yet understand. That excites me! Maybe I am supposed to feel what I feel when helping people is made so difficult. The more I see the internal workings of some organizations the more I feel the need to start my own. Everything in due time. For now, I will use whatever my platforms are to lend a helping hand. We all should do as such. The time to help is now. Remember, it's about the dash!