A couple of years ago, I was sitting in the crowd one Sunday morning at Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC.  The lead pastor there is very competent and a fantastic preacher, and the church has experienced unbelievable growth … even unbelievable to him, I think.  He opened his sermon with this thought:

“Almost everyone of you here today is rich and I can prove it.  I know your house is like ours in this way.  Fairly regularly, we have to clean out the refrigerator.  You know, clear out those leftovers that we did not get around to eating, the stuff with nasty things growing on them.  If you have the resources to throw away and waste food, you are rich.”

According to WorldNutrition.org, almost 1 billion people in the world are undernourished.  This equates to a little over 13% of the total population or one person out of seven.  The United Nations Commission on Human Rights counts 100 million homeless people around the world.  GlobalIssues.org provides statistics on world poverty, among other endeavors.  Their research indicates that “at least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 per day” … less than $300 per month.

There is little doubt that if you have the wherewithal to obtain the ingredients required by this web site, the computer and Internet service to access it, and the electricity necessary to power it all, you are rich, indeed.  Should you feel bad about that?  No, not at all.

However, by any measure or belief system, we are blessed and must recognize it.  Only then will be find the focus that is due the poverty around us.  Only then will we see the ability that we have to help others less fortunate in our world … regardless of our own circumstances.

Going to the stream to wash clothes

Currently, I am in the western-most mountains in the Republic of Panama.  This area is amazingly beautiful, the climate quite temperate, truck farming abounds, and the majority of the population lives in abject poverty.  This is particularly so for the indigenous peoples, the Indios. The pictures in this article were taken here today, but could have been taken any other day.  What you see in them is “life” for some of the most hard-working individuals I have ever seen, or can imagine.

Washing clothes on a rock

Yet, as I travel around I am inspired by these people.  Their ingenuity, persistence and love of family amazes me.  I see all ages playing baseball in a field in the evening after the adults’ work day ends.  Kids play soccer on the highway, stepping aside to allow vehicles to pass.  Big sisters and brothers take the hands of younger siblings to safely guide them. Families take a Sunday walk together.  Men trimming hedges with their machetes or toting 100 pound bags of freshly picked coffee down a mountainside so steep that I cannot fathom even walking down it!  There is a stream nearby where women wash the family clothes.

Believe me, I feel very rich.  And, I am pretty sure that you are wealthy, as well.  QED

The roof over their head