I have cried as I’ve watched the graphic images coming out of Haiti. Watching a mother cry out in anguish because she lost five children broke my heart. The thought of losing a child is more than I can bear. I can only imagine the grief she must be experiencing. Hearing that residents of a nursing home are laying in the streets without food or water while the supplies are only a half mile away at the airport seems unthinkable to me. A 22 year old female missionary from Washington was found buried under the rubble. She was there helping disabled orphans. Last night’s latest statistic was 200,000 are dead and 1.5 million are homeless. Those statistics are overwhelming because they aren’t just statistics, they are people. Parents have lost children. Brothers have lost sisters. Churches have lost pastors. These people will never be the same. Their lives are changed forever.
Now come over less than a thousand miles to where we live here in the United States, the land of plenty. I am ashamed to admit that for a brief moment yesterday I lost my perspective. This realization sent bitter tears stinging down my cheek.
I had been running errands and my last of the afternoon was at the grocery store. I was in a hurry. It seemed like every person I got behind was slower than the next. The place was packed. They must have decided to bring in every vendor, too, because down each aisle they were restocking shelves. Shoppers had to exercise patience navigating down the crowded aisles that were blocked by rows and rows of fresh food. I guess everyone decided to put their grocery shopping off until yesterday because of the playoff football games that took place over the weekend. As I came upon the checkout lanes, they were four or five deep at each line. I could feel my blood pressure rising as I waited not so patiently.
After about fifteen minutes in line, when the checker asked how I was doing, I murmured something about long lines. As the words came out of my mouth, practically suspended in mid-air like a cartoon bubble, I immediately felt ashamed of myself. I was upset because I had to wait to pay for food that was so abundant and plentiful. I lost my perspective. While people are hanging on for dear life waiting for someone to rescue them in a land not so far away, but oh so different, I had the audacity to be inconvenienced by abundance.
As citizens of the United States, I believe we are spoiled. How would we react if we were enduring the horrors that the people of Haiti are experiencing?
When we flick a switch, a light comes on.
When we go to the faucet, clean water comes out.
If we get hot or cold, we adjust the thermostat.
If we’re hungry, we go out to eat or go to the grocery store to make something to eat.
If we’re full, we throw leftovers down the garbage disposal.
If we’re sick, we go to the doctor.
If we want to go somewhere, we get in our cars and go.
We take for granted all of the privilege that we have. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think we are the “big, bad wolf” at all. This is where we were born, so this is our “normal”. Yet we continue to hear stories from missionaries and volunteers who report on the desperate conditions in Haiti, but they won’t leave because they are drawn to the amazing spirit of the Haitian people. These people are genuinely thankful for the smallest of things. They experience tragedy and suffering on a daily basis, so any bit of kindness or good fortune is magnified to them. I don’t wish this type of suffering on anyone in the whole wide world, but it is my prayer that we become more grateful for the things we have, that we appreciate our many blessings. I personally don’t ever again want to feel the sting of a tear rolling down my cheek because I was inconvenienced by abundance.
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About Stacey Winder
Stacey Winder has lived in the Northwest area of Houston since 1978 and Cypress specifically since 2005. Married with two children, she is actively involved in the Cypress community in non-profit and faith-based work. She has a passion for the people that live in Cypress, and is enthusiastic about the opportunities available to the residents here.Stacey has worked in commercial and residential real estate, but her real passion is for writing. Stacey is an accomplished writer whose works have been seen in numerous publications. She is now the Editor of TheCypressTimes, and as such will be a frequent contributor. In addition to her work as the Editor, Stacey is a child advocate for Compassion International, with the goal of “releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name”.
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Thanks, Stacey, for your thoughts and honesty. We take so much for granted and don’t realize it. But at least for now you have refocused my priorities.
What a great perspective you have brought to us… i know that many have had ‘thoughts’ of how grateful we are to live where we do…same in all of North America ( I am Canadian ), but to actually stop and humble our hearts, with a Holy Arrest as has been wrought by your words, is overdue… this is the second time this week such perspective has been brought to my attention… the first being the Pastor’s sermon Sunday where he spoke of our isolation from one another in our societies here, whereas the poor in many nations have deep and meaningful true relationships… and this they value above all else… you are spot on my friend… much love and keep pouring it on us…
I would also add that, for most people in the world, this is how it has always been.
They have been prisoners of nature and of natural disasters, helpless when an earthquake or hurricane hits, just as our forefathers were.
They have been carried off by infectious diseases. They have died in childbirth or of malnutrition, all quite needlessly.
They have lived as their parents lived, generation on generation, scratching out a living from land that barely gave them enough to feed their families.
And still, in our highly urban and technological world, hundreds of millions of people live that way.
We are the beneficiaries of a great miracle. It was our forefathers, not theirs, who discovered the insights of economics and of science, produced the mighty engine of capitalism, and used its riches to dominate the world both militarily and culturally. In that sense, we are very fortunate.
In our turn, we can use some of those riches, and some of the talents that our capitalist economy has enabled us to develop and refine, to give a hand up to those still struggling in the mire; to reduce those hundreds of millions to tens of millions and even fewer. In our own lifetimes, it can be done.
Stacey,
This is a beautiful piece, and one every American, even those who consider themselves “underprivileged,” needs to read!
Thank you for the attitude check.
Cheri
This is a beautifully written and heart felt article. It shows the love of God that radiates through your words.
Yes, we need to look at what we have and be thankful, for He has blessed us beyond what we deserve.
My thoughts and prayers have been focused on this tragic situation that seems to have no end.
Is there hope for these people? Will there be enough assistance from the influential countries with our meager contributions?
Will we continue to read the updates? Will we see this through “with” the victims? In reality, no. Most will read the headlines for a few days, check an update here and there, but the reality is, many will forget the ongoing tragedy within a month, maybe two. Or, when something happens in our own country, a movie actor has a new partner,or a politician, introduces an unwanted policy.
But in a small devastated part of the world life goes on just a bleak and helpless as it today…