Does Meditation Help?

This is a question that non-meditators tend to ask. It arises from the mistaken view that meditation is therapy. It can be used as therapy but in its pure form, therapy it isn't. What I can say is thatthe fruits of meditation are probably more manifest in times of stress. Like this past week, for example, my wife is still in hospital and the response to treatment is somewhat slow. Even amidst the inevitable anxiety and consequent stress the iron man can be seen. The "iron man" is the indestructible core of every living thing's being.
The stillness of meditation can be likened to a stone lying on the beach but below the tidal margin. The waves constantly crash over it but when the waves recede, it is still there, a stone. OK, so it gets rolled around a little and worn down a bit more but it still remains a stone. Alone. Inviolate. Yet part of a bigger thing. Sea, stone, sand, waves and the ever changing tide are all part of this one. Several small bit-player parts in the great symphony of the universe.
All of civilisation rushes to and fro in the headlong dash into, where? But somewhere in this turmoil, someone is sitting still. Always there is someone meditating somewhere.There is a stillness we all can share, even by thinking of this scenario. Meditation is not a selfish act.
Does meditation help? It helps everyone, whether they want it to or not.