some things i've seen

pretty much everyday my face gets banged against poverty and suffering.

Usually i walk around with a hard shell around my heart. i think its cause i know there isn't really much i can do anyway. people who beg almost always have a "beggar-master" who provides some care and protection in exchange for the "service" of begging, and all/some of the money (i don't know the details). every once in awhile someone pierces that hard exterior of my heart.

last week we went to the airport to pick up an intern (Lee) who has joined us for language school for the month. we were waiting in the "nice" area of the airport, and there were lots of little boys (i'd guess about 10 yrs old) begging in that area. we were there for almost and hour, so the boys came up to us over and over. The first boy who came up to us was dressed quite nicely, and wasn't very dirty (relatively) i didn't think he was a "beggar." but as time went on it became clear that he was. At one point while we were waiting i saw him begging from someone else - and his sad eyes pierced my heart. sad eyes, with a hint of desperation. i was really at a loss for what to do. in order for the boys to be in that restricted area they must have some sort of "master." quite often street kids sniff glue. giving money was clearly not gonna help this boy. i felt sad. i was grieving with this boy. and i felt helpless.

there is a man who begs outside a shop that i pass often. today sheila and i saw him in a different part of town. i've thought he had some sort of mental handicap (sheila thinks he had a stroke). Either way, for some reason i can't explain this man pierces my heart. it is harder for me not to give to him than the many physically handicapped people i see everyday. what can i do?

yesterday i saw a beggar paying a bribe to a security guard outside a nice office. at least that's sure what it seemed like to me. paying for the "right" to stand outside that office area and beg. it was a crazy thing to observe. how do you respond to that?

there are construction workers/day-laborers outside my bedroom window. in the past month they have torn down a 4 story cement/brick and re-bar building - using sledgehammers to demolish, buckets to transport, and hammers to chip the pieces of cement off the bricks so they can be re-used. the past week or so they've been working on digging (by hand) a foundation for the new high-rise building that will go in there. when i fall asleep at night i can hear them working. when i wake up, i hear them working. i haven't seen them take a day off (not a day of worship, not a national holiday). in the heat of day they continue to work. hard workers. i'd guess that their pay does not come close to equaling their labor.

these are some things i've seen that make my mind race. questions without neatly packaged answers.

today i listened to a sermon using the text of Matthew 5:7, "God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy."

mercy was defined as compassion + action.

i don't know how to bring these realities together.