The American Scheme
for a while now i've been thinking about going to a different country someday. i've been to ecuador and mexico now and i just love those places. i love them b/c they are simple. the people are real people. materealism is non-existant. they're needs are real. they long for food and shelter. it seems to me that they have real pain and real struggles. it seems that way b/c i look around me in this country and see people complaining about not having new enough shoes, or the right kind of meal, or the perfect house. and i just think that real pain is beyond this nation. that's where i need to be.
tonight i realized that my reasoning was not entirely accurate. the inaccuracy is in that our nation doesn't know real pain. the truth is that the real difference is that we hide it. i sat in church tonight with a group of peers (somewhat) and after the leader opened up a little about some struggles in his life a few others lifted up their struggles as well. soon, more than half of the class had revealed some pain, worry, or fear to the rest of the class in request of prayers. more than one person talked about divorces and/or problems within the home. others mentioned other kinds of family struggles. and still others expressed concern and fear with health issues. the pain overwhelmed me. such a small room that contained less than 20 people. see, in places like ecuador and mexico, it's obvious. the pain is quite visible. they have nothing to conceal it. here on the other hand, we have nice clothes, regular meals, and lovely homes that cover our pains and struggles quite well.
in all honesty, it was a hard lesson. not really one i wanted to hear. but i needed to hear it. all this time i was convinced that the hardest job was getting into the impoverished part of the world and helping those people. and that is such a hard job, and a job that we as christians need to be participating in. but i'm not so sure it's the hardest. b/c it's much harder to reach those suffering, when they are masked with happiness.
tonight i realized that my reasoning was not entirely accurate. the inaccuracy is in that our nation doesn't know real pain. the truth is that the real difference is that we hide it. i sat in church tonight with a group of peers (somewhat) and after the leader opened up a little about some struggles in his life a few others lifted up their struggles as well. soon, more than half of the class had revealed some pain, worry, or fear to the rest of the class in request of prayers. more than one person talked about divorces and/or problems within the home. others mentioned other kinds of family struggles. and still others expressed concern and fear with health issues. the pain overwhelmed me. such a small room that contained less than 20 people. see, in places like ecuador and mexico, it's obvious. the pain is quite visible. they have nothing to conceal it. here on the other hand, we have nice clothes, regular meals, and lovely homes that cover our pains and struggles quite well.
in all honesty, it was a hard lesson. not really one i wanted to hear. but i needed to hear it. all this time i was convinced that the hardest job was getting into the impoverished part of the world and helping those people. and that is such a hard job, and a job that we as christians need to be participating in. but i'm not so sure it's the hardest. b/c it's much harder to reach those suffering, when they are masked with happiness.