Injustice

Who decides where the injustice lies? How can I walk past someone who needs everything, and give nothing? Why do I look more fondly on those who work for their money, than those who simply ask for it? Is grace not lost in the moment that I expect some return on my investment? Surely I know better. Still, I cannot save everyone. Better yet, I cannot truly save anyone, nor can my money.

Why was I born into a life of affluence if not to help those that know nothing more than the street curb they belong to? What makes me so different from them anyway? Don’t we want the same things in life? A warm place to sleep, clean water, and fresh food…what if even those things are even beyond their imagination? What if all they need now is someone to take a moment out of their day and offer companionship? What if amidst the thousands of people that pass each day, there is one that can spare a moment. Spare a jacket. Spare a dollar. Spare more than the concern of tripping themselves up on whoever lies beneath them.

Still, what if my perception of need is warped. What if the need I see is not the need that actually exists. Why must I always weigh up what I know, with what I see? Is my perception not riddled with prejudice if I aim to fulfill a need that does not even exist? If I see what isn’t even there, how can I be sure that I can see what is?

What matters in the end anyway? Should I obey the law and let my fellow man wither, whilst others profit from his exploitation? Will anyone agree with my decision to support an illegal trade if it means feeding someone’s family for one more night? Again, who decides where the injustice lies? I hope it not me, for all I know is of the need. I know not how to fill it, or even of where my first step must be to try. Simply of its existence.

I think I have always known of what is happening. I think I have always known of what is not happening that should be happening. I think everyone has. I think it much easier to change the channel, turn the page, or click another link, than to actually acknowledge what is going on. I may not know everything, but I know that of the two great P’s, Profit and People, our concern should primarily be on the latter before we even consider anything else.

I find it remarkable that when I write of injustice I can only surface questions. Of most other things I am sure. Of most I know a little. Of this; not an answer. Not an attempt nor effort. I know not how I can be so drawn to something that doesn’t even involve me yet. I don’t know anyone that has died of hunger. I have not met anyone in urgent need. What if my thinking is backwards though, what if I have always been involved? What if this urge is not as large as a life calling, but as small as a required change in attitude. What if all this surmounts to simply being more generous…to the rich and poor alike. What if my purpose in life is simply showing everyone how to give more. Imagine that. A life surrounded by generosity that swings both ways. That’s what I want. I don’t want to escape the life I know, but embrace it, and change it. I don’t want to be remembered in the future, but in eternity.

That guy who not only gives money, but also stops to spend some time with the person who doesn’t have anywhere to stay tonight…

…Yeah, I want to be that guy.