(Repost) God Helps Those Who Help Themselves – Self-Reliant Selfie Status By Rylan Branch

(Editors Note – Wednesday November 20, 2013)
Originally Published on: Jan 18, 2011 @ 18:00 by Rylan Branch

Mental note to self.
Don’t change a thing.

(End Note)

It’s Tuesday Newsday and week # 3 of 2011, and while I owe myself a vacation as I am due for one, I decided to find a compromise which is actually the fact of the matter already, which is to make my vacation my vocation and vice versa.

According to some of my recent studies, if you want to make your brand and cause authentic, it requires that you actually have a healthy dose of what is known as ethos so that you avoid becoming robotic and find yourself regurgitating that which has already been originated elsewhere, and in writing, this is accomplished through sharing your personal challenges and struggles along with your resolutions, giving your presentation a human appeal so that individuals are aware that while work is enjoyable, it is in fact work, meaning it costs time and energy to produce wonderful works.

The image above as a header for this post symbolizes something that is simple yet complex simultaneously, and it is simply to do something unusual and what makes it complex for me relates to one of my biggest personal challenges which is how to best handle individuals who for whatever reason reluctant or unable to embrace change and that which is outside of the norm.

First and foremost, the primary cause of PimpHop.com Lifestyle Magazine is to help ourselves and other individuals to grow and become better to the best of our abilities, which would seem like an attractive and in demand service, yet with the current climate, what tends to keep showing up is an overall feeling of individual selfishness/helplessness and dependency on others to make everything safe and better or at least livable for others which entails a sharing of the rewards and not the risks.

Tuning in to what I am hearing from leaders of the nation that I pay attention to, there is what appears to be a call to duty, as well as a declaration of each one doing their own part. I mention this because Barack Obama in his first address of 2011 clearly states that his focus is to do what he can as President to turn the economy around and invites others in both political parties to rise to the call of duty to govern.

The key word is to do his part/what he can, which would indicate that there is also a duty of individuals to contribute to the goal of betterment which would require a can do attitude and in life, there are times when individuals must be sure to state a clause so that when individuals get a result different from what they may have expected, they cannot point the finger at another for the failure, and when it is coming from The President, my ears tend to tune in to what is really being said.

Down here on the surface, I would have to state that I can agree totally and make this same claim to do what I can and my part as the results as of late have continuously been a failure on the part of other individuals to deliver on their end as if there is some form of an imbalance between the needy and needed with the needy overly dependent on the needed.

With that said after searching and recognizing that like all other things, there is a simple solution, the popular adage that “God Helps Those Who Help Themselves” came to mind which to me at least sounds like the best example of all to follow, known as a Godly Example, so when it comes to my desire and ability to help, I have simply set some ground rules for myself by paying attention to how much an individual is helping their own self before making a decision to offer and share any of my resources that may assist them or be of some benefit to them.

To wrap this package before I send it, interestingly enough, at the end of it, I just now learned that this phrase was actually first coined by Benjamin Franklin, whose image and words have been showing up around these part quite frequently in 2011 as a testimonial of change for the better.

The saying, “God helps those who help themselves” was first coined by Benjamin Franklin, a Deist. In case you’re wondering, a Deist is one who believes that while a supreme being did indeed create the universe, that supreme being does not involve itself in human affairs. Therefore, miracles and special revelation (such as healing, prophecy, the virgin birth & resurrection of Jesus, and the inspiration of the Scriptures) don’t actually happen.
Source : BloggingTheologically.com

Interestingly enough, while I did not want to go here(religion), here being on my mind actually led me to this exact point, and the point is in regards to a belief system which actually seems to support a notion that some individual somewhere actually sacrificed his own self preservation interest for the sake of others who were or are in need of salvation from their own self created circumstances, so for those interested in the types of conversations that take place in my mind, it is simply that I believe the individual known a Jesus Christ would offer an opinion on matters which would state that while a fool may wish for anyone else on earth on in heaven to give them salvation, what a fool might could do in the meantime is simply to use their own mind that the were blessed with by “The Creator” similar to the mind of “The Savior” and use it to make wealthy decisions with the same mind that was used to make poor decisions which led to the majority of the results that one seeks to be saved by another from in the first place, and even if  “The Devil Made One Do It“, it was done only after a decision was made to do so.

This conversation, when I look at it seems to be a bit heavy, so I will leave with one of my favorite lighthearted jokes which actually conveys a similar message and stance.

God will save me

There was an old man sitting on his porch watching the rain fall. Pretty soon the water was coming over the porch and into the house.

The old man was still sitting there when a rescue boat came and the people on board said, “You can’t stay here you have to come with us.”

The old man replied, “No, God will save me.” So the boat left. A little while later the water was up to the second floor, and another rescue boat came, and again told the old man he had to come with them.

The old man again replied, “God will save me.” So the boat left him again.

An hour later the water was up to the roof and a third rescue boat approached the old man, and tried to get him to come with them.

Again the old man refused to leave stating that, “God will grant a miracle & save him.” So the boat left him again.

Soon after, the man drowns and goes to heaven, and when he sees God he asks him, “Why didn’t you save me? I thought you would grand me a miracle and you have let me down.”

God replied, “You idiot, I don’t know what you’re complaining about. I sent three boats after you!!”

A different and valid perspective to consider.