Tuesday, February 8, 2011

A Good Deed makes You Feel Good (Oh)

There is this song that Cantor Doug sings for the kids about doing good deeds. The tag line (or the "refrain" in musical terms) is "A good deed makes you feel good! (insert grunt here). While Rogers & Hammerstein have nothing to worry about, the lyrics of this simple song actually resonate deeply within me.

I've written before about how I feel most spiritual in nature. The next most spiritual activity for me is social action. When I have the opportunity to directly impact someone's life by my actions, I feel purposeful. More than that, I feel kinda god-like. As if I have the power to change the world. Man, what a trip! Can you imagine if I really had that kind of power? I'd bet everything on red!

I believe we owe it to humanity to constantly do our best to make the world a better place. And while I volunteer, I can't help but hear Cantor Doug singing in the back of my head, "A good deed makes you feel good."

2 comments:

Kevin said...

You always say it so well!

Rabbi Paul Kipnes said...

In a Mishpacha faculty meeting, we read a piece of Talmud (Jewish law) which said that if you save a single life, it is as if you have saved the entire world. And if you destroy a single life, it is as if you have destroyed the world.

Our spirituality is so deeply intertwined with social Justice. That's why Or Ami's Vision and Values statement declares "We walk together down Jewish paths which touch our hearts and souls, and transform us to seek justice and nurture compassion in the world." Spirituality leads to social justice, and social justice leads to spirituality.