Just a Dollar and a Toy

There are times (many in fact) when I feel completely overwhelmed by what I wake up to and try to fall asleep with every single day. I often think about those who are less fortunate and remember all the faces that I’ve seen that reflect a life of wretched discomfort and pain that this world envelops them in. I constantly hear the voices of the many who cry out and groan over the misfortune that inflict them. They live with this every minute of every hour of every day, 365 days a year, after year, after year. Why should I ever forget them? How could I?

It is during this time of year when all of this weighs heaviest on my mind. With all the distractions that are normally presented to the worshipers of the world’s privileged, so called beautiful, powerful and famous we now have, again, the soul redeeming and self-satisfying holidays of thankfulness and peace on earth good will towards men. I never understood how celebrations of gluttony and materialism were the accepted ways of giving thanks for “what God has so graciously provided for us all”. When I was just a child it was always impressed upon me to give thanks every day for what we have, no matter how little. It was never meant to be a celebration of abundance, at least not in my mind, not in our house. How could I see it any differently when “what God has so graciously provided for us all” is served up on the tables of so few? For them it truly was and is a celebration of abundance.

Yeah, I know, why do I have to be such a party pooper? Why must I insist on focusing on the negative, after all ‘tis the season! I guess it’s because like they say “the more the merrier”, right? If more people could enjoy what the few enjoy the party would be much more, well–merrier! Do I understand that to be the correct interpretation? It takes a special sort of callousness to be able to eat, drink and be merry if the majority of your family is literally dying for want of just the basics. It reminds me of the movie scene where well to do people are enjoying an extravagant meal at a posh restaurant while outside pressed against the window at their table is the face of some forlorn, starving person projecting themselves into the enjoyment he/she is witnessing. Unlike the dining characters of a movie the world’s well to do can’t merely beckon the wait staff to chase away the offending person or close the curtains on the rest of the world. It’s just a matter of mastering selective blindness, at least until you need to find them for self-satisfaction, err humanitarian purposes that is (sorry), why a donation of just one dollar can feed a dozen of them! And no child should have to wake up Christmas morning to nothing. That’s why the truly caring support “Toys for Tots” and the like, what could be more self-sati…oops (I’m really sorry) I mean humanitarian? Who cares what they wake up to the other 364 days of the year. Guess it doesn’t take much when it comes to soul redemption. Just a dollar and a toy.

People of lesser or no means (men, women or children) don’t need handouts, nor should they expect them. We need assistance, guidance, support and recognition. We need to be recognized as members of an extended family, our worldwide extended family. As mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers and nothing less. We need to be enabled or re-enabled, so as to carry our own weight in order to contribute to the success of the worldwide family. As the old proverb says, “Give a man a fish he will eat for a day. Show him how to fish he will eat for a lifetime.”– Unless, of course, you need someone for h-hu-hum humanitarian purposes (whew, got it right that time).

–almodesto