Where is the world headed to? There are too many answers to this question, because human beings, in general, tend to look at this issue from its own perspective which is highly influenced (or controlled) by the egocentric views of each human being, or group of. Unfortunately, most of us are all raised to believe that the world is divided into winners and losers, and to realize our “American Dream” (or something equivalent to), and that normally implies in our minds being better of, or beat, our neighbors in the material world. Immediacies are generally taken as priority over longer term goals, because we can’t lose any battles as we move on as that could be perceived as a sign of weakness. We all have, though, one thing in common: we all search for happiness. Happiness is the ultimate aspiration of humanity. The level of pride and selfishness, though, make us understand happiness in many different ways. Most people still believe that joy can bring happiness, and that most joy can be “purchased”. Actually, for these people, this is “true”. They can find happiness in a new car, dining out, titles, power, and other innumerable ways in their earthly lives. On the other hand, not enough people can see that happiness, to be stable and long lasting, must be something that needs to satisfy our spiritual aspirations, therefore it must be acquired in a way that add value to our souls.
Why did I start this article with that question on where the world is headed to? Well, this question seems to be very relevant at this particular moment, where the media is so filled with bad news that makes us wonder if we are at the verge of an inconceivable situation. At the heels of such bad news come statistics showing a consistent and persistent growth in poverty. The census of the United States, just published, revealed that, in 2010, we had around 46 million people in this country that live before poverty line. That means an increase of about 6% versus the year before. This includes an increase of 11.5% in the number of suburban residents that lived below the poverty line. As an expected domino effect of this, the hunger issue gets magnified. Reports tell us about a substantial increase in the number of people knocking the doors of the many food pantries around the country.
Let’s now read once again the introductory quote to this article, from Mother Theresa. Based not only on the above quote, but on so many other quotes she left for us as profound messages, we can say that Mother Theresa was “hungry” to help the hungry. She was asking God’s mercy to all poor and hungry people by making us conscious that, to be “worthy” of God and true happiness, we need to have compassion and do charity with love. The world would be much better if instead of being seen as divided between winners and losers, it would be seen as divided into those that need help and those that help the needy. And that would get us closer to God, as we would be complying with His first commandment: “To love God above all, and our neighbor as we love ourselves”.
St. Francis made it clear to us: “It is in giving, that we receive”. If it was the other way around, meaning that selfishness could bring happiness, than the Divine Laws would be at jeopardy. So, let’s hungry to help the hungry! The Bezerra de Menezes’s food pantry is one of the many ways we could help so many desperate people looking for so little.
Gilberto
Oct 3rd, 2011
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