Are We Like this Blind Beggar?
January 31, 2020
I often see this blind Mexican beggar and usually give him a few pesos.
He is there every day.
"Didn't I give you money yesterday?" I think.
Yes but he needs to eat everyday.
Jesus: "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." Matthew 9:21
By Henry Makow PhD
Why am I so stingy? Compared to this blind beggar, I have so much money. But I don't want a dependent.
There is no disability pension in Mexico so he has thrown himself on the Mercy of his fellow man.
This is a quaint tourist town - bustling on weekends and holidays but pretty sleepy otherwise.
My restaurateur compassion syndrome has kicked in. So many restaurants. So few customers. I feel the owner's anxiety.
When people have no education or skills, all they can do is open a restaurant, often a hole in the wall, or a stall selling the same tired souvenirs or candy as hundreds of others.
Then there is the shoe shine man, assorted buskers and food carts, a boy selling melons from a wheel barrow, and withered old women with outstretched hands.
Everyone needs a feed. Even Wall Street bankers.
Whether stray dog, pigeon, banker or beggar, their day is dedicated to putting food in their mouth.
Stray dogs bask in the sun. A lot of people live hand-to-mouth.
People with money have no perspective. We live hand-5000-miles-to-mouth. Yet we check our nest egg, our 401-Ks constantly. Poverty is a state-of-mind and most people feel poor.
Our minds have been conditioned to covet money -- a spider's web thrown over our souls. Money (and sex) ensure that we behave as automatons.
We are prisoners of our material ambitions. We never consider how much we actually need in relation to how much we have.
Mathew 6:26: Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one [a]cubit to his stature?
BLIND BEGGAR
Can you imagine what this blind man's world is like?
Black.
Why am I so callous? Why is it so hard for me to feel love and compassion?
It's a constant struggle NOT to be an asshole. The game is a draw so far.
I want to think about myself, my self interest. I don't want to think about unfortunate people. They're so many. I'm already exhausted.
Mexicans have strong families. I assume he's well cared for.
This man spends his days walking around the town square with his hat extended.
On weekdays, he will be walking alone extending his hat into a black void, with no one within 100 feet. He is a fisherman passing his hat (net) through thin air.
Sometimes, to get attention, he turns on some music and does a little shuffle.
Imagine spending every day like this?
CONCLUSION
This blind beggar is a better man than I. I would have committed suicide. He has the courage to live.
He dresses in his Sunday best, and casts his net into the night, day after day. Not quitting . Not giving up.
The disparity between the wealth of the few and the poverty of the Third World is the Number One question facing mankind. 3.4 billion people live on less than $5.50 a day.
People owning over $100,000 in assets total less than 10 percent of the global population but own 84 percent of global wealth. Half of the world adult population owns only 1% of global wealth. The top one percent own 50% of the world's wealth.
Some people have money coming out of their ears. But the more they have, the more it owns them.
In contrast, the poor are trapped. Yet most maintain their dignity and obey the law.
The fortunate have tons of money in comparison, and we're constantly monitoring our investments.
The paradox may be that serving God instead of ourselves is the path to happiness.
Until I free myself from attachment to money, I am more blind than this beggar.
Mathew 6: 33: But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
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Related - Makow - Can a Monkey be a Mensch?
-------------How's Your Inner Beggar?
------------ No Stats for Inner Poverty
Greg Greenfield -- Nine Tips on Dealing with Beggars/Panhandlers
First Comment from Dane
'When you give to these the least of my brethren then you have given unto me'. Something like this can cover the multitude of sins. i wish more people could get a grip on these things but they are so caught up in themselves & what they can get for them. Everyone dies & no one takes anything with them. There could be the biggest difference in this world if more folks would share just a little.
i have been homeless for 17 years & i panhandle some. i have to. i went to social security for my back disability. all i got was run around & denial. i gave up. waste of time. same for other help. what i did; the same as the blind beggar, turn to my fellow man. it works better. it is out in the weather but yet it works even so you get dirty looks. what you do get is a least along a little better. i won't stop with it. the system is very much failure, but not standing outside.
Manfred said (February 1, 2020):
AGAIN A BRILLANT ARTICLE.
THANK YOU.
ON THE END OF DAY YOU REALLY OWN ONLY WHAT YOU HAVE GIVEN AWAY.