January first
It's the first of January, and we're in Lima. Tomorrow Karen, Alex, and John head back to Pucallpa, while Jackson and I wait in the city for a few days to pick up new student missionaries at the airport, but for now we're all together.
We decide, as a special treat, to go downtown to Pizza Hut, to celebrate the new year. It's going to be a splurge, but we haven't eaten American food in five months, and we're craving a good slice of pizza. Or maybe three slices.
Karen has figured out the public transportation system in Lima quite well, and she leads us through several bus changes until we arrive at our destination: the large and plushly decorated Pizza Hut near one of Lima's central malls.
I spend what seems like a ridiculous 30 soles ($10) on a pizza and salad which Karen and I share. It's delicious. We have a lovely evening talking and laughing and marveling at how long it has been since we've eaten food this tasty.
It's dark when we head back to our friends' house in Chosica, and the moon is full behind the hazy polluted sky. We cross a bridge by foot and a tiny grubby girl runs up to me with her plastic begging cup. "Please, please," she whines, "I'm hungry."
I rarely give money to beggars. I prefer instead to hand out mandarins or mangos, or to take the time to sit down and talk to them. But tonight I don't have any fruit, and I don't have time to socialize. I think about the $10 I just spent on pizza, and know it could feed this hungry girl and her family for a week.
Was it wrong for me to spend so much enjoying a treat from home with my friends? I don't share my thoughts with my cheerful companions, chattering on ahead of me, but I am troubled.
I don't want to live like this, splurging and then feeilng regretful. I want to make thoughtful decisions about how I use my resources before I go out and use them. I want my life to be consistent, and I want to give more than take. Still, I like pizza.
Luke 12:48 says, "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."
But what is my responsibility to the masses of people who have so much less than I?
We decide, as a special treat, to go downtown to Pizza Hut, to celebrate the new year. It's going to be a splurge, but we haven't eaten American food in five months, and we're craving a good slice of pizza. Or maybe three slices.
Karen has figured out the public transportation system in Lima quite well, and she leads us through several bus changes until we arrive at our destination: the large and plushly decorated Pizza Hut near one of Lima's central malls.
I spend what seems like a ridiculous 30 soles ($10) on a pizza and salad which Karen and I share. It's delicious. We have a lovely evening talking and laughing and marveling at how long it has been since we've eaten food this tasty.
It's dark when we head back to our friends' house in Chosica, and the moon is full behind the hazy polluted sky. We cross a bridge by foot and a tiny grubby girl runs up to me with her plastic begging cup. "Please, please," she whines, "I'm hungry."
I rarely give money to beggars. I prefer instead to hand out mandarins or mangos, or to take the time to sit down and talk to them. But tonight I don't have any fruit, and I don't have time to socialize. I think about the $10 I just spent on pizza, and know it could feed this hungry girl and her family for a week.
Was it wrong for me to spend so much enjoying a treat from home with my friends? I don't share my thoughts with my cheerful companions, chattering on ahead of me, but I am troubled.
I don't want to live like this, splurging and then feeilng regretful. I want to make thoughtful decisions about how I use my resources before I go out and use them. I want my life to be consistent, and I want to give more than take. Still, I like pizza.
Luke 12:48 says, "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."
But what is my responsibility to the masses of people who have so much less than I?
posted by Ansley at 7:17 PM
3 Comments:
I feel as though I must spend some time reflecting on my own choices after reading this post, Ansley. Here in the states, little girls like that are only pictures in magazines and commercials on TV. What a blessing to have experienced need in the flesh. Just don't forget her.
Ansley, I always respect your decisions and your caring for others. These questions trouble me too. I don't know what to think. I don't know how to resolve these issues. Unfortunately, I think, those of us in the developed world are confronted with this dilemma so rarely that we don't feel its consistent nagging in our minds.
Ansley, I don't have an answer either, but love you for asking yourself (and us) these questions. People who are free of angst regarding the choices they make have closed their eyes to the realities that you are confronting.
Post a Comment
<< Home