wonderful thoughts on the meaning of life

[bibliophile birds]

i've been reading a blog called The Slowvelder by a woman named Jackie who lives in South Africa. it's always interesting and sometimes she has great things to share. a recent post really stuck with me and i wanted to share it with all of you.

What It Means to be Poor

A rich parent, wishing that his son learns what it means to lack the luxury he lived in, sent him to stay with farmers on their farm. The son spent three days and three nights on the farm.

Driving back to the city, the father inquired on his sons experiences, to which the son replied that his stay was a positive one.

Have you learned anything, asked the father.

Oh yes, replied the son -

We have one dog whilst they have four.

We have a swimming pool as large as our garden and full of chemically treated water. They have a river with crystal clear water, full of various types of fish and fauna.

We use electricity to light up our garden; they have the moon and the stars to brighten up their fields.

Our garden extends up to the boundary wall; their land up to the horizon.

We buy our food; they grow it in their fields, harvest it and cook it.

Our music comes from CDs; their lives are brightened by a continuous symphony of birds, crickets, animals and other sounds from nature, which, on occasion, is also accompanied by the voices of neighbors working in the adjoining fields.

That we use microwaves and other modern appliances, but our food lacks the flavor of their food, which is cooked on a slow burning fire.

That to protect ourselves, we live behind walls and burglar alarms whilst they live with doors wide open and protected by their neighbors friendship.

That our lives are dependent on mobile phones, computers, television and theirs enriched by life, the sun and the sky, the land and their livestock, and their families.

The father was utterly stunned by his sons reflections. His son then added:

In a nutshell, thank you for showing me how poor we are.

Indeed, with every passing day we tend to become poorer because we distance ourselves further from nature, the greatest gift to mankind.

We are more preoccupied with accumulating possessions and riches rather than enjoying this wonderful gift of nature and being thankful for being alive and well.

 

[bibliophile birds]

here's another uplifting story i cam across tonight. i happened to catch the documentary A Small Act, about the Hilde Back Education Fund.

Hilde Back escaped Nazi Germany as a young Jewish child, smuggled out of the country into Sweden by strangers. her parents were forced to remain in Germany because Sweden wouldn't accept Jewish adults. she never saw them again- her father died in a work camp and her mother was killed at Auschwitz.

in the 1970s, as a way to acknowledge the gift she was given by being taken into Sweden, Hilde began donating about $15/month to an international sponsorship program to help Kenyan children complete secondary school. one of Hilde's beneficiaries, Chris Mburu, went on to complete law school at the University of Nairobi and a Master's Degree in International Human Rights Law from Harvard.

in recognition of Hilde's gift to him, a person she had never met, Chris decided to start the Hilde Back Education Fund which would provide scholarships to needy and deserving children in Kenya, so that they too might continue their secondary school education.

so often, we don't do little things to help because we think that it's not enough. we assume that a $15 donation can't possibly make a difference. but, when you are able to see the ripple affect even those small kindnesses have, you see that everything we do can change the world. those strangers that helped Hilde escape couldn't have saved every Jewish child. but they saved one. and that one child has gone on to be the inspiration that is saving hundreds of children from a life of certain poverty because of a lack of access to education.

every little thing can make a huge difference. have you been inspired to make a difference lately?