Blessed Mother Teresa said that “peace begins with a smile.” And for one 84 year old Australian man, that rings especially true.
For most of his long life, Don Ritchie has lived directly across the street from Australia’s most popular suicide spot: The Gap - a rocky cliff on Sydney Harbor. During that time he has saved an estimated 160 people from jumping off. A few times he had to put his own life at risk to do so. But most of the time all it took was a smile and a cup of tea.
Each morning, he climbs out of bed, pads over to the bedroom window of his modest, two-story home, and scans the cliff. If he spots anyone standing alone too close to the precipice, he hurries to their side. [full story]
Once by their side, he simply offers them a cup of tea and a caring smile. No complex head games or attempts to solve the complex problems going on in the person’s life. Just a smile from a stranger.
A smile cannot, of course, save everyone; the motivations behind suicide are too varied. But simple kindness can be surprisingly effective. Mental health professionals tell the story of a note left behind by a man who jumped off San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. If one person smiles at me on the way to the bridge, the man wrote, I will not jump. [...]
“They often don’t want to die, it’s more that they want the pain to go away,”... “So anyone that offers kindness or hope has the capacity to help a number of people.”
I thought this was a wonderful story and a great reminder of the power of a warm smile. We don’t have to have all the answers or be especially skilled to help people in need. Sometimes we just have to smile. We can all do that.
We also don’t have to live across the street from suicidal cliffs. Somebody you know - a neighbor, somebody in the cubical next door, a friend, a commenter on your favorite blog, a person you pass by on the street - is standing on a cliff. And all they may need right now is a smile and a cup of tea.
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See, this is precisely the sort of story about the Tea Party movement that the MSM tries to stifle! They make it out to be some racist, red-neck, birther conspiracy when in actuality it’s all about decent people going out of their way to keep people from jumping off a bridge (into Socialism). Thank you NCR for shining the spotlight on the truth!
Victor - right on, my friend!
Yeah!!! In all seriousness, Richie’s place seems like an awful place to live. And I’d like to think that anyone living across the street from a prime suicide spot would do everything they could to stop folks from going over the edge, if for no other reason than that they wouldn’t have to watch and hear as many people jump (or retrieve them afterwards). But kudos to him for not wanting to jump off the cliff himself after living next to it for so many years!
Though I guess they could also just put up a big net? Not the typical Aussie way of doing things though, I’ll admit…
To broaden the subject and generalize past the specific location - so many don’t realize that they can just reach out and help a friend, help a neighbor, help that person coming to Mass alone by just reaching out with a smile and the simple offer of a cup of coffee (or tea) - it really IS that simple. Simple human contact, simple human kindness - is something that we all crave SO much - and something that is often so lacking in so many lives. I once had a woman, a smart woman, tell me that she “wasn’t a mental health professional” - so she didn’t know how to help a boy, who was her daughter’s boyfriend, who was really in some deep trouble - and I told her - just TALK to him - be a friend to him - that’s really all we have to do - nothing complicated - most of the time that’s all people are looking for - but we build up walls - and the people around us are walking through crowded rooms feeling like the lonliest souls on earth…. feeling like they are so alone they want to die… and that’s just not right… And we can fix that. Mother Theresa knew that - and she reached out with a smile and a gentle hand every day. We can do that too. Every day. With love.
Funny thing is, victor, that’s what the “evil socialists” want to do also- just offer a cup of tea, where the “Tea Party” activists are so scared of socialism that they just don’t want to even pay for the tea.
Want to really keep people from jumping into the Federalist Socialism net? The Wyden Amendment to the final bill gave you your answer: Start a local state co-op or even for-profit institution that provides EVERYTHING the Federalist Health Care system promises to- for less cost. In 2017, you can then petition your state government to switch to YOUR system instead- completely legally.
This is excellent. ‘A Cup of Tea and a Smile’ is a simple story with a powerful message. To quote Helen Keller “I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. I will not refuse to do something I can do.”
We all have an obligation to make a positive difference in the lives of others, and if we are honest with outselves, we have multiple opportunities every day to reach out and yet so many of us choose to look away. What this story reminds us is that connecting, or reaching out to someone doesn’t have to be something “big”. The smallest of gestures, a kind word, a smile, a warm touch can make a significant difference to an individual just needing to know that someone cares.
BOYCOTT…BP brands to boycott include Castrol, Arco, Aral, am/pm, Amoco, Wild Bean Cafe .Deutsche gegen ARAL Vereinigten. “This is a Revelation prediction” There goes our ocean and wild life…What are we doing to save Gods creators and our oceans?
Who said the tea party activists didn’t want to pay for tea? I think if you asked most of them, they’d say they want the choice as to whether or not they should be forced to buy tea and for whom and how much. To quote Helen Keller: “Hey, has anyone seen my socks? Hello? Anyone? Oh, right.”
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