{"id":258746,"date":"2020-11-10T15:37:43","date_gmt":"2020-11-10T19:37:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/?p=258746"},"modified":"2020-11-10T15:37:43","modified_gmt":"2020-11-10T19:37:43","slug":"freedom-speaks-the-hands-of-love-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/freedom-speaks-the-hands-of-love-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"Freedom speaks: The Hands of Love Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
DFP leader Kent Vital – file photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We are social beings.\u00a0 We are not meant to enjoy this world all by ourselves as individuals.\u00a0 As for that matter, many of us love an audience. \u00a0For instance, many people like to be complimented on how beautiful their homes are or on the outfit that they wear. The truth is that we don\u2019t live just for ourselves and we desire and need interactions with others. \u00a0But in as much as we want our lives to be enjoyable or fulfilled, we should also want the same for others. Why? Because those who don\u2019t live satisfied lives can act in ways that can adversely impact our own enjoyment.\u00a0 For instance, someone who can\u2019t feed his family may be tempted to steal and in so doing violate our personal space and affect our sense of security.\u00a0 Take another example \u2013 a person who feels unappreciated may not extend road curtesy, thus making the use of the public road less enjoyable.<\/p>\n

There are various strategies that a government may implement towards fostering a socially cohesive society \u2013 one in which there is a strong sense of belonging, which we will talk more about that in another article.\u00a0 But beyond government strategies, much rest on each individual to make his community a pleasant place to live.\u00a0 And I wish to encourage each one of us to search our hearts and play our part in making our country a better place.\u00a0 As for that matter, this is one of the ways we can overcome bad governance, by each individual being his brother\u2019s keeper! I find that in my own life I am most at peace and happy when I am contributing to the lives of others including that of strangers. Sometimes, for one reason or another, people find themselves in circumstances in which they can do with help. \u00a0The circumstances of people\u2019s struggles varies – some elderly person may need help with cleaning their yard, garden or home; a mother may be overwhelmed with caring for young children and may need a break to rest or recharge; a family may be struggling to put food on the table; a father may be struggling to construct his own home while seeking to \u201cmake ends meet\u201d;\u00a0 someone may be on the road and need a lift to get to work;\u00a0 some people simply need a smile or interaction with others so that they do not feel isolated; and there are many other circumstances that you are personally aware of.\u00a0\u00a0 Many suffer in silence and they may not voluntarily indicate their struggles. If we dig deep and help, we may just find that we will be contributing to the liberation of our country from dependency brought about by bad politics.<\/p>\n

But we all have our own burdens and many of us can avoid helping others by resorting to the familiar excuse that we don\u2019t have enough time or resources or that every-one should look out for themselves!<\/p>\n

But in spite of our busy schedules, I challenge to every one of us to dedicate one day in every month to help someone else. If we do that, we will be contributing to making our communities better.\u00a0 This is a kindness challenge; this is a love challenge \u2013 love for our fellowmen. This is a challenge to all patriots to lift our country higher.\u00a0 This is a challenge to all those who love God to also show love to others.<\/p>\n

This is something that I have already started and I would like the nation to join me in this pursuit.\u00a0 Some weeks ago, I was moved by the plight of a senior lady who needed help with her living circumstances.\u00a0 I therefor reached out to the men\u2019s Ministry in the church that I attend and the men decided to take up the project of helping that lady.\u00a0 But we decided to go beyond helping just this lady and extend a hand of love to others in need. When we sat and discussed the matter, we realized that we are all busy but that this is something we must do.\u00a0 We decided to dedicate one Saturday per month to volunteer together as a church group to help others with our time and resources.<\/p>\n

But many may think that helping someone would deprive them of something \u2013 time and money to attend to their own matters. But while that is the case, the benefit we receive ourselves from helping others can far outweighs the lost! Most of us are familiar with the scripture that says (in Acts 20:35) that It is more blessed to give that to receive.\u00a0 Many people find that hard to digest because many of us have gotten so wrapped up in our own desires and needs.\u00a0 But I have found that when you show genuine kindness to others, it not only brings Joy to them, it also benefits you.\u00a0\u00a0 In the next article we will continue with that discussion and provide some guidance towards what we can call \u201cthe Hands of Love\u201d Challenge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We are social beings.\u00a0 We are not meant to enjoy this world all by ourselves as individuals.\u00a0 As for that matter, many of us love an audience. \u00a0For instance, many people like to be complimented on how beautiful their homes…","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":226406,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","footnotes":""},"categories":[13,77,235,9,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-258746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-homepage","category-homepage-carousel","category-news","category-politics"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFreedom speaks: The Hands of Love Challenge - Dominica News Online<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/freedom-speaks-the-hands-of-love-challenge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Freedom speaks: The Hands of Love Challenge - Dominica News Online\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We are social beings.\u00a0 We are not meant to enjoy this world all by ourselves as individuals.\u00a0 As for that matter, many of us love an audience. \u00a0For instance, many people like to be complimented on how beautiful their homes...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/freedom-speaks-the-hands-of-love-challenge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dominica News Online\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-11-10T19:37:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Kent-Vital-discussion-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"5184\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2846\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/freedom-speaks-the-hands-of-love-challenge\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/freedom-speaks-the-hands-of-love-challenge\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/71cd1f1f2accca6a7c47573faafb74b4\"},\"headline\":\"Freedom speaks: The Hands of Love Challenge\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-11-10T19:37:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/freedom-speaks-the-hands-of-love-challenge\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":858,\"commentCount\":7,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/freedom-speaks-the-hands-of-love-challenge\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/06\\\/Kent-Vital-discussion-2.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Commentary\",\"Homepage\",\"Homepage Carousel\",\"News\",\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/freedom-speaks-the-hands-of-love-challenge\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/freedom-speaks-the-hands-of-love-challenge\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/freedom-speaks-the-hands-of-love-challenge\\\/\",\"name\":\"Freedom speaks: The Hands of Love Challenge - 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