"if it's good news, it must be someone else's"

Saturday, October 2, 2010

plenty to go around

at a gathering the other night, keaton said, when i came back from my learning journey to kliptown, soweto, i was so moved by the children, and the poverty, and all that they need, that i'm doing anything and everything i can to help them.
an agitated acquaintance said, i don't understand americans like you? we have so many poor children right here in our own country. the patriotic thing to do is help our children first.
i thought, uh oh.
then keaton said, i suppose i would agree with your concern if children were able to choose which country they wanted to starve in, because they'd pretty much all choose to starve here, since we have most of the world's food. but since they don't have much say in the whole matter, i can't be worried about where they happen to be dying. besides, there are plenty to go around, so don't waste your time getting all worked up over me. just get crackin' helping children where ever you might find them, and i promise, i'll only sing the praises of your human compassion.

god i get all goo-goo eyed when she talks like that.

2 comments:

Randy Johnson said...

There aren’t many things in life more satisfying than shaming the shameful, but one of the few would have to be helping a child, and Keaton wins on both counts. And of course you win big time for being her date at the gathering, rather that acquaintance's date.

Beatrice, of Bunyala, Kenya has been our link (and a tenuous link at best) to the children of Africa for the past six years of our World Vision sponsorship. She’s a constant reminder to us of a world beyond our boarders, but is our little bit of help making a difference? In the big picture it feels as futile as throwing rocks at the moon, but in the small picture it feels like giving a hug to a child who needs to know they matter. It’s not much, and luckily there are people out there like Keaton who are doing so much more, but who knows, maybe if we all start throwing rocks at the moon….

Pam said...

Helping children anywhere is always a noble endeavor. It always starts with one child. Just read them a story.