Click HERE to view Rev. Stacy Macris Ros’ guided meditation during the service.
LYRICS to “HELP!”
Help! I need somebody
Help! Not just anybody
Help! you know I need someone
Help!
When I was younger
So much younger than today
I never needed anybody’s help in any way
But now these days are gone
I’m not so self-assured
Now I find I’ve changed my mind and opened up the doors
Help me if you can, I’m feeling down
And I do appreciate your being ’round
Help me get my feet back on the ground
Won’t you please, please, help me?
And now my life has changed in oh so many ways
My independence seems to vanish in the haze
But every now and then I feel so insecure
I know that I just need you like I’ve never done before
Help me if you can, I’m feeling down
And I do appreciate you being ’round
Help me get my feet back on the ground
Won’t you please, please, help me?
When I was younger, so much younger than today
I never needed anybody’s help in any way
But but now these days are gone
I’m not so self-assured
Now I find I’ve changed my mind and opened up the doors
Help me if you can, I’m feeling down
And I do appreciate your being ’round
Help me get my feet back on the ground
Won’t you please, please, help me?
Help me, help me, ooh
MESSAGE:
So, this elderly gentleman named Fred was talking to his elderly next-door neighbors, a couple. And one of them said, “Hey, Fred, so how did that memory clinic go that you went to last month?”
And Fred replied, “Well, it was outstanding. It really helped us a lot. They taught us all of the latest psychological techniques, visualization, association. It was really great.”
“That’s wonderful. What was the name of the memory clinic?”
And he draws a complete blank. He’s thinking and thinking. He can’t remember a thing. And then a smile came across his face, and he shook his head, and he said, “Hey, what do you call that flower with the long stem and thorns?”
And the neighbor said, “You mean a rose?”
And he said, “Yeah, that’s it.” He turns around towards the house, and he says, “Hey, Rose. What’s the name of that memory clinic we went to last week?” All right.
So, how many people here have ever needed some help in some area of your life? How many people have ever needed some help in some area of your life, but you were too embarrassed to ask for help? And how many people who have needed some help — and someone actually offered you help — and you turned it down anyway? Anybody ever turned down help even when you needed it?
I think we would all agree that every single person at some point needs some help. We all do. And we admit also that it’s hard to ask for help. And sometimes it’s uncomfortable even receiving the help.
And so the question is: Why is it so hard to ask for help? And I think the main thing is that we’ve been conditioned and trained in our culture to be independent — almost hyper-independent — to the point where asking for help or getting help or needing help, you know, is like a sign of weakness. It’s a sign of being needy or soft or incapable.
Our pride sometimes won’t let us get some help even when we need it. Sometimes we don’t want to be indebted to someone else or feel like we’re burdening someone. Sometimes it’s the fear of rejection. Sometimes we want to, but we just don’t know who to ask for help.
This morning, we’re going to start our six-week annual “Songs of Life” series where I take some famous song — some hits that we all love — and extract from it a spiritual message or a lesson or some teaching to help us live our lives more fully, more freely, more joyously. And whether the writer and the performers of the song intended it or not, we will get a spiritual message out of the songs.
And today we’re kicking off with The Beatles’ 1965 hit, “Help!” It was written by McCartney and Lennon, but really the majority of it was John Lennon. And it was really a true call — an actual real call — because he was struggling with the intense and overwhelming success of Beatlemania … to the point where they went from being like literally overnight successes where fans were mobbing them. They couldn’t go for a walk on the street. He felt like they’d lost their independence and their own life kind of got out of control without their permission.
And they really struggled with it. He stayed in a lot. He ate a lot. He put on a lot of weight. And in an interview in 1981, he’s called it the — what did he call it? — “the fat Elvis period of his life” where he gained some weight because they were just kind of hiding.
He said the one regret that he had, though, is if you’ll notice … The song has helped me, all the things of all the different ways that he needs help, but it’s in a pretty peppy beat. It’s pretty uplifting and inspiring, actually. And he said he regretted that they leaned towards it for commercial reasons, but he said that it really missed the real message he was trying to say. They didn’t catch the depth of it because they wanted to sell records and make it peppy. He actually wanted to slow it down so people would really feel the yearning and the pain and the help that he really needed and others need, as well.
So, this morning, we’re going to look at three life lessons — three spiritual insights — that can be extracted from this fabulous song, “Help!”
And the first one is that WE ALL NEED HELP. That we all need each other. The opening lines are:
Help! I need somebody
Help! Not just anybody
Help! you know I need someone
Help!
And so, they’re driving the message home that we all need help at some points in our lives. That we all need each other. You know, we need somebody. We need anybody. We need someone.
And the truth is: we are all here to love one another. We’re all here to help one another, to care for one another, to support one another, to uplift one another. There is no way we can have a good life — a successful and happy life — without the help of others. No one does it alone.
John Donne said, “No man is an island.”
In Genesis 2:18 it says, “Man should not be alone.”
We absolutely need each other to be happy, to be successful, to grow, to change, to be transformed, to bring out the very best in ourselves.
You ever notice that people are born with very different talents and abilities in them? Some are talented in the musical area or art; some in the financial or business. Some are handy people who could build or fix just about anything. Some are talented and creative in their writing. There are all kinds of ways.
Nobody is great at everything. And that’s the way it’s actually supposed to be. We’re all supposed to be different, because we need and we can and do utilize and benefit from their talents that we don’t have. It is what creates a greater level of connection and support for one another.
And it’s an important thing for us to realize that we need each other. It is the baseline of being a human being. There’s only so much we can go in terms of self-sufficiency, but we actually have to rely and be helped by one another.
So right now, I want you to think of all the people in your life that have different talents and abilities, and think of how blessed you are because of their different abilities. Their different talents. Their different perspectives. Their different mindsets and ways of looking at things. And imagine now if you didn’t get the help of any of their talents or abilities. We would be lost. We would be alone and stuck.
And so it’s an important thing for all of us to realize. The greatest second commandment is that we are here to love one another. And helping one another and needing one another is just an expression of that commandment and the reason why we are all here.
And so, in needing help from others, here are four things that we realize. Number one: we honor and appreciate the different talents and abilities that are out there of other people in our lives; the different mindsets and perspectives.
The second is that we realize that we are connected. We are not separate beings. We are all spiritual beings on the same path with different abilities, but we are all one and the same.
The next one is: having humility. Realizing we can’t do it alone. You know, Martin Rutte once said, “You have to do it for yourself and you can’t do it alone.” Even Jesus couldn’t do it alone! He had 12 guys he recruited to help support him in doing his mission. And so, humility.
And the fourth one is trust. That when you get help from someone, or give help to someone, there’s a certain level of trust of each other and trust of life, trust in the process.
So, the first thing we need is to understand: we all need help, which is a deeper sign of we all need each other and that we are all here to love one another.
The second thing is to ASK FOR HELP. So, know that we all need help, but then to actually ask.
It’s said in the New Testament, “Ask and you shall receive.”
In the book of James, it says, “If you’re lacking anything, ask God, who gives generously.”
Jesus, again, said, “Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you’ve received it and it will be yours.”
Sometimes I think we don’t realize how powerful it is to ask. Asking is about clarifying and making a claim and calling forth the very good that we want to manifest and create in our lives. Asking is a powerful spiritual practice. It is a spiritual — a creative — energy that absolutely shapes and attracts the good that we call forth in our lives. Asking opens possibilities. Asking opens opportunity. By just asking, it is amazing how we can transform our lives.
Sometimes we’re afraid to ask for what we want, and it’s actually one of the best resources we can have and practices.
There was this father and son, and there was a big rock not far away from them. And the father said to his son, he said, “Son, I want you to use all your power — all your power! – and move that rock.”
And so, the kid’s pushing it, and he’s pulling it, and he’s kicking it, and he’s doing everything he can think of — getting a board and trying to pry it. And he can’t do it. And he’s complaining to his dad. He says, “Dad, I don’t have the power to move it. I don’t have the power to move it.”
And this goes back and forth until the kid’s exhausted and practically in tears. And the dad said, “Son, there was one power he didn’t use, and that was the power to ask me for help.”
And it is a power to ask for help. It isn’t giving up. It’s actually expanding an awareness of how powerful we are and how capable we are.
And so: asking. We’re going to look at two aspects of asking. Asking spiritually in terms of in prayer and asking people.
And so, how many people would say that you’re really good at asking for what you want? Anybody would say you’re pretty good? One or two, okay.
And so, let’s look at asking in prayer. Now, we’re knowing that the kingdom of God is within us and the Spirit of God is in us. We’re not talking and asking God for certain things. What we’re actually doing — asking is more like aligning. That we align our faith, align our mind with the things that we are seeking.
So, if we’re seeking more prosperity or we’re seeking a relationship, we align our minds with the thing that we are seeking to attract and create. We hold an intention and a desire. Sometimes sitting in the silence and being still and just lifting our consciousness to the level of what we are seeking. It is to be clear about what we desire and hold that intention, see that picture, feel that feeling, and allow it to come forth.
It’s a powerful way to pray. It’s just to align ourselves; to raise our own vibration and consciousness to the good that we’re seeking. That is a spiritual way that we ask. That’s a spiritual way that we attract.
Now, in terms of people, that’s a different ball game. Here in the song, I love how clear he is. He says:
Help me if you can, I’m feeling down
And I do appreciate your being ’round
Help me get my feet back on the ground
One thing about it is: he is really clear about what he wants and what he’s asking for and what he needs help with. And the fact is, for us to ask anybody for anything in our lives, it requires four things: clarity, honesty, vulnerability and courage. Because we may not get the answer that we want, but we are willing to put it out there into the universe.
I mean, can you imagine being honest, being clear, being vulnerable, and being courageous and asking for the things that you want in your life?
So right now, think of somebody that you would like something from in your life. And would you be able to make that commitment to make an appointment with them and do a little heart sharing that’s clear, that’s honest, that’s vulnerable, and courageous about what it is that you want from them?
Most of the time, those things really scare the heck out of us. I remember when I was in seminary, there was a guy … I always used to leave my keys in my car, and leave my door unlocked. I don’t know why; because I was living at Unity Village, and I thought it was Shangri-La, and nobody would ever steal your stuff. And so anyway, I used to leave it.
And this guy used to go in my room when I wasn’t there and he would eat popcorn. He’d leave popcorn on my futon. And he would sometimes leave a Post-it note that said, “Your mom called.” It’s like, “My mom called? What were you doing answering my phone?”
Anyway, I had this whole thing where I was rehearsing asking him to not come in my room anymore. And I was just stressing out like crazy. I was thinking, “Oh my God, maybe an argument will break out. He’ll get mad. Maybe he’ll not be my friend anymore. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.”
And then I built this up in myself for so long, feeling so anxious. And then the day came and he came in. I said, “Hey, John, would you mind not being in here while I’m not here?”
And he said, “Sure; no problem.”
And I was like: No problem? I’ve been sweating like this for days and being so anxious!
And so, sometimes the scariness is in our head. Most of our stress is really imagined. It was a simple ask, and because I did it, I felt more comfortable doing other asks in other areas of my life and for other folks.
And so it’s an important thing to learn how to ask for what we want — in the spiritual sense of raising our consciousness, but in the people and word sense of being honest and vulnerable and clear and having the courage to just speak what our words are. Knowing they may not come back the way we want them exactly, but we will feel better about ourselves having expressed our level of honesty and being clear about what it is that we want and what it is that we are seeking.
Because often we hold back. Often we don’t tell the truth. We kind of hedge at things, thinking we’re communicating well, instead of actually being straight up and honest and clear. And so, asking for help — asking in prayer and asking people — is an important thing and an important message.
And the third one is to GIVE HELP. It’s a good and important thing to ask for help and get the help, but it is also another part of the equation; to increase the flow in our life is to also give help to others. If we only receive, we stagnate. If we only give, we deplete ourselves. And so, we need both to actually circulate and grow and improve in our lives.
So, many years ago, after I was injured in a car accident, I literally thought I could never do anything again. And I was just so depressed and so stuck. And my mom had suggested that I volunteer at the church.
And so, I started volunteering the church every Friday. I was the Friday receptionist, and I typed up the income tax forms. Those were my two jobs: answer the phone and then, in tax season, do the tax thing. And then I started volunteering at prisons and halfway houses and serving on the board. And I taught literacy. And because I didn’t think I could do anything with my life, that I started just volunteering like a maniac — Just any and everywhere.
And what was great about this is: it gave me a sense of direction. It gave me a sense of purpose. It gave me a sense of meaning. It started creating a little circle of friends and a community of people that I knew that were involved in multiple areas that I was involved in. And it was amazing how it literally helped heal me and transform me and see myself in a different light of not being able, capable to do anything and being a little capable of doing anything. I still didn’t know what I was doing at the time, but it made such a huge difference in my life.
In the book of Proverbs 11:25, it says, “A generous person will prosper. Whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.” So, whatever we put out there in terms of helping others will create a flow of life and a flow of abundance in all areas.
And so, my question for you is: Who are you willing to reach out to to offer some help to? It could be a family member. It could be a friend. It could be the Unity church. It could be anywhere where you are giving of yourself and enriching and trying to make someone’s life easier or better.
It’s an important thing to understand we need help — everybody does. And we need to ask for help. But we also need to give help. Because that is the Law of Circulation. That is the Law of Increase. And it’s a powerful and important thing.
Everybody needs help. And we are here to help everyone.
A man walks into a bar and he sits down. And he looks up and he notices three pieces of meat hanging from the ceiling. And he looks up and he says to the bartender; he said, “What is up with the meat?”
The bartender says, “Well, if you can jump up and slap all three pieces of meat at once, you’ll get free drinks for a solid hour for yourself. But if you miss even one, you will have to pay for everyone else’s drinks for the rest of the night. You want to give it a shot?”
And the man looks at it a bit, and then he says, “No; I think I’ll pass. The ‘steaks’ are too high.”
I’m asking you for help for my jokes. Please …
But as for the joke, the stakes are too high. The stakes are too high to pretend that we’ve got our lives all together and we’re afraid to ask for help. The stakes are too high for us not to ask for help. The stakes are too high to not activate the flow of giving by offering and giving help to others.
Everyone needs help. We are all here for one another.
So where do you need help in your life right now? And are you willing to seek and ask for some help? Where are you resisting receiving help from someone who’s offering? And where are you being called to reach out and to help someone else?
We all need help. We all need help. We need to ask for help, and we need to give help. And that’s the message from the song, “Help!” God bless you all.