What is the purpose of life? What is our role in existence? Why are we here? Where are we going after this? What do we do while we’re waiting?

Some days the monotony of everyday life gets to me., and I start asking no one in particular these questions. Is this just me? Or does anyone else think it too?

We are so focused today on life beyond this world, do we ever stop and wonder of the live within?

Like, why are we here? We go through life doing our everyday chores, our jobs that pay for the kind of life we want to be able to afford, our free time being spent doing the things that we love to do or dreaming of being able to one day. But what about the ‘why’ beyond those things?

I remember reading somewhere when I was much younger about people being placed in our lives, for a reason, a season or a time. And I think about that a lot.

I am someone who loves to connect but also someone who chooses to disconnect when the emotions get hard to discern. And reminding myself of this statement helps me with those tough decisions and feelings.

Life – one of the most beautiful, yet complicated things about life itself.

Every living thing created holds such immense beauty, that cannot be compared with another living thing.

So, what do we do with this? What do we do with ourselves when we aren’t too busy doing the things that are unimportant? How do we focus on what is important? What is important really?

Which brings me to the title of today’s post.

As a mother, and a woman, when I see a fellow mom struggling, is it not my place to put down my load and help her, if I can? Or should I rather go on my way, and tell myself that that is her burden to bear, not mine?

We believe that everyone has their own journey, their own chosen path and the hurdles that come with the choices that they make. But what if, what if another’s journey and paths intersect with our own? What happens then? What if a part of our process is helping them with theirs? What if that is a part of the path that we have chosen? Would we ever know for sure? And what if failing to do so restricts our growth in a way that we did not intend for it to? And what if another’s path is linked to us being there for them or vice versa?

How do we know for sure, that we don’t need to stop in our tracks and think? As I’ve said before, life isn’t a race. It’s about getting to our destination, no matter the pace.

If I see a fellow person who needs help, is it not my place to stop what I’m doing however I can, and help them with their load?

This brings me back to a day in the beginning of this year. Our family had gone to a desert camp. With the weather being nice, this is something that a lot of people do in the Gulf. Families gather in a gated camp with open tents set up. There’s food, games, music, campfire, etc. It happens at night and sometimes goes well into the early hours of the next day.

It was the last day of the week. We had gone straight after my partner finished work. And our day usually starts almost as early as 5:30 most weekdays.

We were quite understandably exhausted and missing our beds when we finished from there. We left from the location at around 2 am and were looking at an approximate of 30 to 40 minutes’ drive toward home, on the highway. We fought sleep, tried to hold a conversation that was leading nowhere and neither of us consume caffeine. We managed to make it most of the way while the kids were asleep in their respective seats in the back.

We were very nearly home. It was just one long stretch of road before we could turn toward our street, and my husband dozed off.

The car swerved. I watched as we left our lane and inched closer to the car on the right and I started to yell at him in panic, never taking my eyes off the reducing distance between our cars. On the third scream, he woke up in shock while instantly swerving the wheel in the opposite direction. Luckily for us, he got it under control just in time and it didn’t end badly.

Our journey was not over yet. We still had a bit more to go before our turn. I asked him if he wanted to stop on the side and switch with me the rest of the way. But he refused because by then the little one had woken up and was asleep on my lap.

In that panic and “what just happened?” moment, with my eyes wide open and on him, I said a quick and heartfelt prayer.

A car drove alongside us a moment later. The driver slowed it down enough to drive along us, rolled down his window and indicated for me to do the same. Once I did that, he asked us to stop the car, mid-highway. And we did so in that moment of confusion and panic driven exhaustion.

Once we were stopped, and the pounding quietened, he asked me if the driver of our car was sleepy, and I confirmed it to him. He asked us where our home was and when I indicated to the upcoming turn, he told us that he would stay right there while we changed lanes ahead of him and took our turn. He told us that it was okay, and we were almost home, and we could take it slow just as long as we made our way safely. And he continued to wait and drive by us as we took our exit from off the highway.

I remember the calm, controlled, support that we received in that panicked moment and how it helped us stay awake for the rest of our drive, knowing that a stranger cared enough to stop us and make sure we would make it home.

I sometimes think that if it weren’t for him, would we have made it home that night the way that we did? How much did he lose to do that little? How much did it hurt him to put himself in our path when he did? He had the choice to go on his way and keep driving without looking back. But he chose to slow down, stop and roll down his window for us. And who knows that small act that costed him a few seconds of his life may have saved five more.

So, I wonder, if the littlest amount of effort can help ease another’s burden, wouldn’t that be worth the inconvenience?

On this Easter Sunday, as a lot of the world is celebrating one of the greatest inconveniences borne for another, let us also consider, are we not our brother’s keeper?

Love always,