Skip to main content

On a Brazilian bus.

Sorting though some papers today I found this. I wrote it in May 2006, and so as to not loose it I thought I’d post it here on my blog as a reflection on life and dignity. It was an experience on a bus in Brazil, but the reality of it can be applied to every society and nation. The poor and needy will always be with us- what will our response be as we encounter these individuals who deserve lives of dignity?

"The man got on the bus and was wearing dirty clothes. The bus driver let him on through the front door or the bus. As he started talking my heart got unsettled. He was begging for money. He wansn’t old or disabled, but his plea was to give him some money because he was unemployed and didn’t want to steal. The usual arguments came to mind: he’s an ablebodied man, he could work; what if he buys alcohol or drugs (although he didn’t smell of booze); what if he is simply lying…yet my heart was stirred and I felt such a compassion for this man. A compassion for the humiliation he must feel, the shame of being so desperate that he had to get on a bus of strangers and beg for change. I gave him a coin. I wanted to do more, but what? I hope he gets a job soon. I hope he can be given dignity soon. This is the reality of our Brazil.”

Popular posts from this blog

Packing...again.

I just folded the last load of laundry and I’m almost packed. Off to the airport at 5am tomorrow morning, heading off to Amsterdam. I’m excited, a bit nervous, and wondering what it’ll be like. It’s been a good week at home with lots of quality time with family, especially the little nieces and nephew. I’m glad I’ll see them in April again. Well, not much to write and packing to be done and a bit of sleep would probably be a good idea too. Next time I write it’ll be from Amsterdam....
Read more

Single-tasking September: The art of single-tasking.

To change habits and ways of life, the motivation for change has to be strong, and the benefits outweigh the effort it takes to make the change.  For so long it’s seemed like the ability to multitask has been regarded as a great skill, but is it really a good thing? Recovering from burn-out, one of the effects I noticed was that it was harder to concentrate, and especially tricky trying to focus on many things at once. I’d try to multitask, only to realise that all tasks suffered from lack of capacity to complete any one of them. The challenge is that the habit of always doing many things at once goes deep, and when I tried to focus on just one thing, I found that it was actually really difficult.  As I did a little google search on the matter, I found it seems like multitasking isn’t as healthy as once thought, and that it doesn’t help productivity. Some even referred to it as “switch tasking”, in the sense that the brain isn’t doing many things at once, but shifting rapidly...
Read more

Walking through December: overcoming the challenge of language.

I just got done leading a Bible study in Spanish without a translation back-up, and it went really well. I am amazed at what we are actually able to do when we have no other option. It wasn’t a flawless flow of communication (that would have been a miracle), but together we figured out what I wanted to say. And I think it was good. I was blessed and they seemed blessed as well. The girls just left and I am sat here in my living room with the candles lit. It’s windy and rainy outside, and I am smiling. Happy. Not because I overcame the language challenge, but happy because of yet another beautiful time of bringing more of Jesus to the girls in our Bible study. I am thankful for the privilege of knowing them and standing with them in their journeys of knowing Jesus. And thankful that even when language is shaky, love is stronger and is communicated beyond mere words.
Read more