It seems to me that I am always encouraged to have and pursue my dreams. Live Life! people say. You're so young! You can do anything!! But here's my question:
How do I "live life" when I have to live my life at work, investing in things I've no natural proclivity to care about? What is the point of having dreams if they only point to the fact that I can't pursue them?
And this has brought me to a new place. Why did God have such a heart for the poor? I'm thinking it's because the poor have no freedom. They never have the choice to run off and pursue their dreams. They don't have time to do the things that really fulfill their souls. The poor have to figure out where the money is going to come from to pay for groceries that week, or rent, or electricity, or for many, simply food.
I beseech you not to think I have placed myself too closely to the poor in our world. I know I have much to be thankful for. But changing circumstances always bring new insights and perspectives and these are mine.
Being in survival mode is the great soul-stealer. But being "poor" in a country of such wealth is such a difficult place...you are in a culture that promises us we can have anything we want if we just work hard enough. It's a crock of shit. You can't have anything you want...otherwise I'd be imbibing a $50 bottle of champagne as I sit on the steps in front of Sacre Coeur.
ReplyDeleteI used to ride the bus thinking about how lucky it would be to not have any choices...to be so poor that you had to inherit the family business (being in another country). I feel that perhaps if you KNEW you had to do it, there could be an element of contentment in it. But we have been blessed with SO MUCH material wealth that our poverty is existential. But then I thank god I have a choice...and remember (or try to) that even if I can't move ahead financially (or even afford face wash) that I can still be soulfully wealthy. That's entirely up to me.