There are many reasons people give up on living. I can only talk on my behalf. There is no doubt that problems strengthen individually as they do physically. Therefore, embracing one’s challenges benefits one’s overall health, as it does the outcome.
People steal from others due to a lack of material possessions, financial difficulties, or sheer greed. Others do because of physical and mental laziness. In the world of technology, the term given to thieves is “hackers.”
I would like to address the topic. I have walked that road before and feel no regret because those who run the company failed to understand what it is like to wake each morning to travel through rain, heat, and cold to maintain a job to keep a roof over my [their] head and creditors off my [their] backs. To overlook insults, verbal abuse, and work overtime when a customer insists on being served. Only to be treated as a [slave] less than human, without understanding of the employee struggles or their dedication to keep the company in existence.
So, in light of my experience, I understand injustice. What I don’t understand is that those lacking, whether in financial or material wealth, allow greed to control their actions, taking what is not theirs, especially when no input or work was done; this justifies the taken action. I know, just as one can find it easy to take what is not theirs, the ability to make do with what one has, if their survival depended on it, they will find a way to use what they have.
The Connection of All Living Things
A plant, destined to become a tree, relies on the gardener’s care—sunlight, water, and nourishment—to thrive. Its growth is shaped by the environment the gardener cultivates. In this way, life itself is a shared responsibility: one being’s survival often depends on the intention and action of another.
When I moved into my current unit, my neighbor’s hostility was immediate and unexplained. The tension between us—whether rooted in love or hate—was undeniable. I was born into love, raised with kindness, and taught to value truth and dignity. So, when someone harbors racism in their heart, I cannot accept it. It is not my role to change them; that task belongs to my Heavenly Father, Jehovah. If transformation does not come, it may be because Satan’s influence has taken root, leading such souls toward ruin.
Just as a plant instinctively reaches for sunlight and water—the sources of life—people gravitate toward those who offer wisdom, compassion, and care. We bloom in the presence of love, and wither in its absence.
One afternoon, I noticed my neighbor’s plant creeping toward the mesh around my veranda. I watched it for days as it wove through the openings, persistent and quiet. Eventually, I removed it (without cutting it) with gloves and a pair of scissors. The next day, it returned—its stem pushing through again. Before cutting it, I quietly spoke: “Listen, I don’t want you on my veranda. Next time, I’ll have to cut you.” I removed it once more.
But then something remarkable happened. The plant, undeterred, began curling around its own stem, adapting, growing, and blooming in a new direction.
This moment reminded me: every living thing possesses the will to survive, to grow, and to find a way forward. Whether plant or person, we each have the power to reshape our path, using what we have—even in the face of resistance. Our growth may be challenged, but it is never impossible.
OUT OF MY TREASURES
The bible, on many occasions, gives warning not to steal, and for good reasons. We are all given the ability to create out of need from our own resources, and when we are unable to, to seek help. “Seek and you will find, Ask and it shall be given.” Yes, I had done this in my circumstance without my employer’s help, which moved me to exercise justice in the way I saw fair. The story is featured in my memoir, Until My Dying Day, by B. M. Lustol, published by Dorrance Publishing Company.
For further reading, Proverbs 30:7-9 and Leviticus 19:11
Thank you for reading.
Better The End 