Hanging in the Balance

I do not live on $800 a month and have six children.

I did not grow up in a war-torn country before coming to live in the United States.

I do not have a completely different culture and language from that of the place in which I permanently reside.

I have not spent ten, or 15, or 17 years living in a refugee camp.

I do not own only one pair of shoes.

I do not have to rely on the terribly slow American public transportation to get to my job, my church or my grocery store.

I do not live in a foreign country with the knowledge that I can never return to my home country.

I do not know the joy of depending on God for my very life.

I have not experienced life closely knit to my own extended community.

I did not grow up simply, without the accosting presence of the search for more material possessions.

I do not live in a place where dependence on other people is the norm.

I do not really know how to be completely and totally grateful everyday for clean running water.

I did not grow up in a country where really sharing and serving are just a necessary part of life.

I have not lived in a place where my faith has to be deep because it is literally a life and death choice.

I normally do not recommend comparing oneself with others. I try not to do it. When it comes down to it, everything is between you and God, with God being the only measuring stick there is. But sometimes comparison is an educational activity. And I don’t mean comparison to the rich guy down the street or the friends you graduated college with. I mean comparison with the majority of people on this earth: the ones in developing countries, the ones who didn’t go to college, and the ones who live in political chaos or in a culture much simpler than ours.

It is our experience with widows, orphans, and the extremely poor in Haiti, Mexico and the United States…it is the pictures and stories of life in Africa with chaotic governments, hunger, and AIDS that have put our life in perspective. It is these experiences and circumstances that make us feel both humble and grateful when it comes to our life. We are thankful…and we are uncomfortable…and we live in that balance. Or at least we try to.