“Long ago, Truth, Beauty, and Goodness arose out of the deepest human instinct and became the three greatest ideals that inspired human striving. In modern times these ideals have almost become empty words, but we have the possibility of taking these ideals and giving them, once more, real meaning and substance.”

—Rudolf Steiner, “Truth, Beauty, Goodness,” from Awake! For the Sake of the Future (CW 220)

Anthroposophy is not alone in recognizing human health as something much more comprehensive than a narrowly defined focus on “physical health,” i.e., the presence or absence of illness or injury. But an exclusively materialistic (and dualistic) view of reality and of health tends to neglect or diminish the importance of the spiritual, emotional, and soul needs of individual human beings, with sometimes disastrous consequences.

Really thinking of those termed “our most vulnerable” (a designation few would attribute to themselves), those whose forced isolation over this past year has been most painful or detrimental, it becomes clear that perhaps never before has there been such a need to “reach out,” when and where we can, and to ask ourselves, who do I know that might be suffering?

Of course, given our society’s focus on physical health at the expense of serious considerations of the soul, it’s not always easy to know who this might be. So then why not treat everyone with especial kindness in these bizarre days we’re blessed to live through? The pain of another person is always incalculable—like everything, it is possible to know or understand it, but one can never assume it. As the old Russian proverb says, “The heart of another is a dark forest.” Which in no way implies we should not enter or encounter the heart of another—quite the opposite—but acknowledge its mystery, greet the stranger, embrace the estranged, yes, love the neighbor.

—JSL