After nearly 26 years of living, I continue to find it shocking that the world isn't filled with 'healer-idealists', and can't name the source of this everlasting assumption. God's design? Natural inclination? Egoism? Loneliness? All of the above? There could be a dangerously and naively selfish edge to the assumption; I don't mind being naive or being perceived as naive (old hat), but the true danger is in failing to recognise the world for what it is and in doing so rendering yourself useless to the world at hand. There are many different kinds of persons in Creation, each kind with its strengths and weaknesses that we need; yet I'm everlastingly surprised at the lack of empathy and selflessness in the world. I naturally assume that we all struggle with self and pride in the same way, on the 'outwardly-focused' end of the spectrum; frankly, we do not.
The 'solution' here seems to be parsing and prayer; the items here lapse over into each other, natural and innocent inclinations mixed with egoism and the like. But then again that's the mystery of life for you.
-r
