Friday, May 8, 2015

Celebrate the small things: Rubbish dumps

I dropped my car off to a mechanic for what was supposed to be a routine inspection, but subsequently had to walk to the bus stop, ride home and wait for the dreaded afternoon call telling me how much it was going to cost me.

On the way to the bus stop, I met a young lady from Care. With some time to spare, I decided to hear her pitch. Care does impressive work for poor people around the world. I related to her how I was first confronted by extreme poverty. In the early 1990s I was in the Philippines with YWAM. We were taken to the Manilla city dump and shown a village of shanties inhabited by people who lived and worked on the rubbish tip. It smelled bad and it looked awful and it made me cry. I had never seen such desperate poverty, nor will I ever forget it.

So today, I am extremely grateful for the blessing of being born in Australia: a wealthy nation, and into a family who raised me with no lack of material needs or love and care. I am going to celebrate the fact that I am rich in every way that counts, and compared to most people in the world, I am also materially blessed. This is something I do not take for granted. 

A simple thing like being able to go to the tap in my kitchen and get a drink of fresh water is worth celebrating, is it not?

6 comments:

  1. you have got an award over at my place

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  2. How right you are. We are truly blessed to live "lands of plenty."

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    1. Thanks for visiting Square Pegs Marilyn, and for taking the time to comment.

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  3. You are quite right, D.A. that we should be thankful for so much that we often just take for granted. I didn't get to your blog during the Challenge so it's nice to meet up through this linky instead :) Special Teaching at Pempi’s Palace

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  4. What terrific things to celebrate - yes, we're blessed to be born in first-world countries not third. I live in one now and some parts are just awful. Some people and societies don't want to change from the way they did thing hundreds of years ago. The mentality is practically feudal. Thank goodness we come from a line of people who wanted better and weren't afraid to try new things. Have a great weekend! :)

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  5. One look at the shanty town on the dump puts a few things in perspective, doesn't it. Thanks.

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