Words are Cheap, Actions Costly

A good friend of mine gave me a book to read before I left entitled Happy Are You Poor. I was also warned by several people about this book because it would make me want to give away all of my possessions. Well, I’m not here to argue that point, but I wanted to share a little bit of my reflection on what I’ve read in light of my experiences in Africa so far.

This book talks about living a “sparing-sharing lifestyle.” Living our lives according to the Gospel’s principles, which is we-in-God centered, rather than the world’s principles, which is either explicitly or implicitly I-centered. And in reading the signs of the times we can see that most tend to live by the world’s principles.

It is not that people are not caring or loving towards those less fortunate than themselves, but this I-centered lifestyle is so ingrained in our society that it is “in our mother’s milk,” so to speak. So even the most well-intentioned of people are inclined to this way of living.

But we are called to be a pilgrim witness in our world. We need people to challenge the false ideologies that underscore our consumerist society. People who live the Gospel’s principles and show that we can live happy and fulfilled lives living this sparing-sharing lifestyle. For we hear in 1 Peter 2:11 that we are pilgrims, strangers, nomads on this earth.

To love others as ourselves is the Gospel message. So it is futile for me to cry out in concern for the poor, for example, if I go on living my same life of overindulgence and extensive pleasures. “My life belies my rhetoric.” For love is not mere talk, it is living and active (1 Jn 3:17-18).

Even more than material goods, however, man’s greatest need is love. Love of God and love of brother and sister. And this is what I have found here. Though the people don’t have much, their lives are lived for their families and communities. And what more, they are happy. Sure, there is plenty of suffering and desolation, don’t get me wrong, but if you live your life for a higher purpose than the things of this world don’t seem to matter as much. We are truly a pilgrim people in search of our heavenly homeland.

A few days ago I had an incredible and humbling experience that I will not soon forget. We were passing through a nearby village and Father went in to the church to speak to the people briefly. I stayed by the car and was waiting. I noticed a group of children playing across the street. I would wave to them and they would hide. As they grew bolder they would yell, “White man hey,” over and over. Finally one boy, jokingly or not, yelled, “White man, give me five dollars!” I just laughed. About a minute later, the small boys who yelled this walked over to me with twenty Liberian dollars in his hand (roughly 30 cents US). When he reached me he stuck out his hand and extended the money to me. I was simultaneous shocked and extremely humbled (and no, I didn’t take his money).

If we all lived our lives like this little boy than maybe the Gospel’s principle would be the world’s principle. Maybe we all would feel that our lives were happier and more fulfilled. Maybe the world would be set on fire for the Lord. I can’t promise that I am able to live my life in a perfectly sparing-sharing way, but I can say that this little boy has definitely made me take a deeper look at myself.

-Dan
written 06/22/11