Longspoon | Faith

Seeking the Good of Others

There’s this story about a group of people sitting around a banquet table, food of all delicious food, holding very long spoons.

But they’re miserable. They can only hold the spoons at the handles, which are way too long they can’t bend their elbows to fet the food into their mouths.

Then one guy decides to feed the person across him. Others do the same. Pretty soon everybody is feeding someone else, everyone is getting fed, and they’re all happy.

The story illustrates the idea that instead of looking out for ourselves, we should look out for others. This aligns with the divine command to love God and to love others.

”Longspoon” is dedicated to seek out stories about how ordinary people are seeking ways to help other people, hoping that these stories will encourage more individuals and groups to seek the good of others.

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Corporal Acts of Mercy

Way back in College, there were weeks when my allowance would get delayed and I had to find ways and mean to make do with the few resources left with me. Once I had to survive on seven pieces of pan de sal, for seven days. Not only did God hep me to survive that time, He also gave me a sensitivity to other people’s needs and a desire to share, whenever I can, with those who are hungry. Feeding the hungry is one of seven “corporal acts of mercy”, a tradition of the Catholic Ch

Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility I used to think that “Corporate Social Responsibility” or “CSR” meant a corporation’s philanthropic arm, giving out scholarships, going on a feeding program, planting trees, etc., carried out through corporate foundations or BINGOs ( “Business-Initiated Non-Government Organization”). There is also this perception that CSR activities are part of a corporation’s marketing campaign, an effort to paint it as socially-responsive. Also, that CSR se

Policy Reform

Imagine a group of people arranging themselves on a banca (an outrigger canoe). People are jockeying for the best seats, some get what they want, others have to make do with what they can get. They are willing to endure the discomfort because it’s more important for them to keep the banca afloat, stable, and moving towards a common destination. The way they are settled in their seats, let’s call it a political settlement. If the rules about their seating arrangement are writ

Community Organizing

Perhaps the best way to seek the good of other people is by helping them to do things for themselves. Instead of providing a service, we can help them learn to serve themselves. Instead of advocating for them, we can help them speak for themselves. Instead of pursuing policies for them, we can help them pursue policies for themselves. This is the essence of Community Organizing: helping a group of people to take united action for their own good. It’s about empowering people t

Mass Mobilization

Sometimes the way to improve people’s living conditions is through a change in government policies. However, policy-makers can be difficult to convince - after writing to them, even meeting with them, they may not be moved to initiate the necessary changes. Even some forms of activism, such as an online petition or signature campaign, may not work. What could convince them is the sight of a large number of people gathered in one place, over an extended period of time if nec

Activism

Gandhi led a march towards salt mines. There are situations when it’s necessary for certain policies to be changed, removed, or introduced to improve living conditions for sectors of the community. But people in authority may not want to pay attention to this situation, for one reason or another. To get them to act, vigorous campaigning is necessary. Different forms of “vigorous campaigning” - including circulation of petitions, a signature drive, social media campaigns, ral

Sacrifice and Seeking the Good of Others

When we were asked to serve as small group leaders in our community in Mandaue, we readily agreed. Organize a meeting once every two weeks? Doable. Encourage members to pray and read the Bible every day? Shouldn’t take too much time. But as time passed, we learned that seeking the good of our fellow community members was not as easy as we thought it would be. It meant taking time to listen to brothers and sisters as they talked about their struggles, going the extra mile to f

Training as a Way of Seeking the Good of Others

“Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach him how to fish and he eats every day.” Training is a kind of service that seeks to share and transfer knowledge and skills to those who need it. A classical form of training is one-on-one, in-person. A master trained one or more apprentices in his art or craft, step by step, from lower to higher levels of complexity. In the master’s workshop, the learner literallly “followed in his master’s footsteps” as he moved from one work

Advocacy

Advocacy is speaking in behalf of others A friend seeks to help children by advocating for their rights. She speaks before local and school officials, police officers, media personnel, and parents about the needs and rights of children. As an advocate, she uses her social capital, talents, resources, contacts to promote the interest of individuals or groups who can not effectively represent themselves before certain other groups. It goes without saying that advocates must kno

Service

Service Service means taking action or providing a good to those who need it. The one who serves may get paid - like the waiter who serves diners in a restaurant, or the mechanic who fixes a car. Service may also be voluntary, as when civic clubs perform different kinds of community service. The presumption in delivering a service is that the recipient is unable or unwilling to perform the act or provide the good for himself. You ask for plumbing service when you don’t know h

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