The explosion at that chocolate factory cut a little too close to home for me as I once worked there, and was planning to go back right before it happened. Seven people dead after repeated reports of smelling gas, and no one in management did anything about it. Now it's too late for those brave souls that we've lost.
I've always been the introspective type, I think it comes from having to assume adult responsibilities as a young child, and being shunned as a kid due to the speech handicap which took ten years for me to overcome.
I also think there was a sea change in my thinking early on when my sister explained that death was : "When you go to sleep, and you never wake up." As a very young child, that crystallized what death actually was to me and I never forgot that moment.
It also made me realize that when someone dies, not only do we lose them, but we lose any children they might have had and all of the generations that would have come after them.
Just think about that for a moment...
The person who might develop a cure for cancer, may just lie in the seed of someone killed in a grocery store robbery. It's one of the reasons I created a series on Hive called "Life Is Precious," to highlight the contributions of those both living and dead.
Since I believe in God and that he sent his son Jesus here to die for our sins, I also believe in an afterlife as well as a final judgment where we will be held accountable for how we treated others while we were alive.
I've long been told that I have a "good heart" as if that's something unusual and rare. As a boy, I always wondered why that made me stand out to others. Wasn't everyone born with a good heart? I thought it was a standard feature like four wheels on a car!
But now as an adult, I realize what they meant.
To me, truly good people stand out from the crowd. They seem to shine like a bright light, and the wake of their kindness and decency, spread like ripples on a pond in the at times very dark planet.
They tend to be selfless empaths, always giving and almost never taking time for themselves. That's why whenever I run into a fellow traveler, I do all I can to help nourish and replenish them and to remind them to look out for themselves and avoid the energy Vampires that are always on the prowl.
It's so good to run into them as we both energize and nourish each other unintentionally. After all, it's in the heart. :)
For years, I've been reading about NDEs or Near Death Experiences. This was sparked by some relatives of mine who worked in the healthcare field and sharing accounts of people who'd died and came back knowing things that had happened around them and in other parts of the hospital that they couldn't possibly have known.
I've learned that after we die, there is a Life Review. In it, they report reliving scenes throughout their life both good and bad. The important part was that they not only saw events from their own point of view, but also from the bodies of those that they affected.
So if a man was beating his wife, he'd see and feel himself hitting her, but also saw and felt was it was like from her perspective as well. He was in his body and momentarily in hers as well, and he felt every sensation, thought and emotion that she went through.
Kill someone, and not only do you feel yourself pulling the trigger, but you also experience everything that you did to them up until the moment of their demise.
These people also report that they are shown the aftereffects of every notable act that they've committed. They reported being surprised at the far-reaching consequences of their actions. It turn out that we really are inter-connected in more ways than we imagine.
On the other hand, we also feel the relief we provide to others when we do something kind. You realize the value of good deeds when you can feel it in the bodies of those you've helped.
The news reports I read about the young Nigerian scammers who stole the life savings of an elderly, disabled American woman and then blew the proceeds at the clubs, on drugs and on prostitutes come to mind.
At the judgment, they will see and feel the effects of what that woman who suffered from dementia felt when she was evicted from her home after being scammed out of all of the money she saved during her entire life.
While they were "making it rain" for hookers in Nigerian nightclubs, she was suffering greatly in what should have been her golden years. We have Nigerians here and it seems to be the same thing, almost no conscience for how they treat others, and a "fleece" button that always seems to be turned on. No morals, no empathy, nothing. And they keep targeting the elderly.
In this case the Nigerian scammer used NairaEx, a Nigerian cryptocurrency exchange in order to scam the old woman.
At my college, a Student from Nigeria wanted to launch a business in partnership with some of the American students. No one would take him up on his offer. When he asked why, they told him "You're Nigerian, so it must be a scam."
The website ScamHatersUnited exposes many of the scammers, and what's surprising is that almost all of them are from Africa, and specifically, Nigeria. Even more surprising, is that they are now starting to use stolen profiles from members of the military in their scams. Here, you see their real faces and real names, and the fake pictures they use in order to steal.
It's also notable how many Africans use the excuse of a sick relative in the hospital, or that they've lost their phone or laptop and need to raise funds for a new one. Sad. Hopefully people won't fall for this anymore.
"Who can I scam today" seems to be the order of business, always, with no thought for how they affect the lives of other people. (Is the entire country over there corrupt like that? Is scamming so steeped within the culture that it affects almost everyone?
Is there no fear of God and giving account at his final judgment?) Imagine standing in front of God and having to answer for that? You were a Nigerian scammer and you lived your life stealing the life savings from elderly people. Is that how you plan to face God? Because no matter how well you think you covered your tracks, God sees all things. No one gets away with anything forever.
And. they. will. FEEL. IT.
The point of this post is as a reminder that we all have but a short time in this life. If you run into one of these good hearted people, I hope you do everything in your power to assist them in their life's journey. They truly are "The salt of the Earth," and we all should stand before God on that great day, and have a good account to give of our time spent here on Earth.
Lighten someone else's load. Delight a person with a random act of kindness. Show your good heart to the world and use it as a light in the darkness to inspire others along the way.
Please check out my recent posts:
What Working As A Dishwasher Taught Me About Money (And Life)
I Used To Work At The Chocolate Factory That Just Exploded In Pennsylvania...
Image Credit: [1] @EverNoticeThat Created using Canva.