Rich or Poor
I saw the following story on a Facebook post today:
One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people live.
They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from the trip, the father asked his son, “How was the trip?” “It was great, Dad”.
“Did you see how poor people live?” the father asked.
“Oh yes”, said the son. “So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?” asked the father.
The son answered, “I saw that we have one dog and they had four. “We have a pool that reaches to the middle of the garden and they have a creek that has no end. “We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.
“Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. “We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.
“We buy our food, but they grow theirs. “We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them.”
The boy’s father was speechless. Then his son added, “Thanks, Dad for showing me how poor we are.”
My definition of poor has changed considerably over the past few months. I previously looked around and saw people that didn’t have nice homes, central air and heat, iPhones, MacBooks, multiple vehicles, microwaves, or satellite television, and thought that they were poor. How sad for them that they couldn’t have all these nice things that I have. Imagine how much better their life could be if they could just afford a nicer, bigger house! How great would it be if they could have a vehicle so that they could get around easier! How great it would be for them if they could have 200 channels of satellite TV!
The thing is that the trade off for having all these material things is a necessity to work all the time to be able to pay for these things. Are we truly rich when we have all these things, but don’t have any time to enjoy them? Are we truly rich when we have no time for relationships with others?
When I look at the people here in Uganda now, I see a people that have rich, deep relationships. I see a people that takes the time to visit with each other. I see a people that don’t get in a hurry about things. I see a rich land that is fertile and will grow almost anything. I see abundant rainfall. I see moderate temperatures. I see fruit and vegetables hanging from most trees. I see a beautiful country with spectacular sights.
Are we really the “rich” ones or are we actually the poor ones?
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