Ponderings

This morning, as I (Larry) got ready for church, I thought of a trip Kath and I took to Swaziland (a small country nestled inside South Africa) a few years back. We went to "help" finish a school at a home for orphans: orphans because of AIDS. I thought of what it is I am doing this week and how they lived day to day. On a daily basis, they ate a meal called "pap"...it resembles very dried mashed potatoes or oatmeal, and tasted close to what I would image drywall compound would taste like. They did not often eat 3 meals a day, let alone meals with 3-4 food groups. And yet, considering they had no family left and did not eat what we would qualify as healthy, they had an amazing joy to life. As I considered what I had experienced then, and consider how many living locally survive off next to nothing, I was humbled. As I finished supper tonight, I found my mind wandering of how I would like to "celebrate" going back to normal next weekend. The reality for many, there will not have the same opportunity.

I went running tonight, and as I marvelled at the colours of the leaves, the Apostle Paul's (a guy from the Christian Bible) words ran through my head. He had written how he had learned to be thankful in times of much and in times of little. One of the key things the Swazi's had lived by was to be grateful regardless of circumstance. And they hope for a better future. Poverty pushes a person across the razor's edge between hope and depression. It would be easy to lean towards the latter.

So, as I think about this week, I am thankful for what we do have left, as with Kath's creativity we might just make it.

And I hope for a better future for those who have to live day to day with next to nothing.