Some years ago before the death of Mother Theresa in 1997, a television special depicted the grim human conditions that were a part of her daily life.
It showed all the horror of the slums of Calcutta and her love for these destitute people. The producer interviewed her as she made her rounds in that dreadful place. Throughout the program commercials interrupted the flow of the discussion.
Here is the sequence of the topics and commercials:
Lepers – Bikinis for sale
Mass starvation – Designer jeans
Agonizing poverty – Fur coats
Abandoned babies – Ice cream sundaes
The dying – Diamond watches.
The irony was so apparent. Two different worlds were on display – the world of the poor and the world of the affluent. It seems that our very culture here in the United States, and any other place that has a great deal of commercialization to it, is teaching us to live as the Rich Man in the story of Lazarus.
We are occasionally presented with the images of the poor man Lazarus at our gate but we are immediately reminded of the next car we ought to buy and the next meal we should eat.
We are slowly and methodically told it is O.K. to live our life of luxury while others live their life of poverty. But alas, it is not so! Heaven’s reversal of fortune shall one day awaken us to the fact that we have separated ourselves from the agonies of others.
Thanks to Brett Blair
Spend some time today reflecting on the person YOU are today, but trying to live on $3.00 a day, had YOU been born in another country.
WE WON’T BE LIKE JESUS IF IT’S MORE IMPORTANT TO US TO BE LIKE EACH OTHER!
