Slumdog Millionaire

"A victim of the circumstances," in the US is often seen as a cop-out, something that you really could have avoided, but that you gave in to of your free will. Such has long been my perception of the phrase, but I am learning to think differently. Slowly I am coming to understand what it is like in other regions of the world, outside the warm, private, and un-fenced-in homes to which we are here accustomed. There are parts of the world where a home is something that is constantly in flux, where daily life is a struggle to merely provide for the most basic of needs. People are calling throughout the world for help, and we do hear their cry, we do send aid, but do we really understand what they endure? I for one, do not think that I can even begin to comprehend what life is like for the majority of the people who live in this world. I have long said that we here in the US do not understand poverty, and my suspicions are confirmed when I watch films such as "Slumdog Millionaire"

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIzbwV7on6Q) or the "City of God" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioUE_5wpg_E). I have yet to experience any of this first-hand, and by all rights the conditions in these particular places may and likely have already improved.

However, as they say with poverty in the metropolises here in the US, if you try to cure poverty in one area, it simply moves to another. Take for example the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago....I did some internet research here and I think it is important that I point this out. The Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago is intimately tied to the "diaspora" movement of Puerto Ricans from their home land to the United States. As it turns out, what I had come to understand as gang violence that was rife in this area, in truth had a much deeper cause (see http://nationalyounglords.com/). The Puerto Rican people were fighting for justice, against an administration that would give them nothing and often repressed the men and women who at first only wanted a decent place to live, and the freedom to make a life. However as the controversy got more heated there were acts committed on both sides that crossed the lines, though the above website makes it appear as though the Puerto Rican movement was in the right (known as the Young Lords). I am now intrigued to do further research at DePaul University now seated in the affluent suburb still known as Lincoln Park to get to the truth of the matter.

This simple revelation indicates that the truth is not always what it seems, that we need to dig deeper and always ask more questions. It is never ok to write someone off until we have spoken with them, given them a chance, and really sought to understand their circumstances, for they may be, and often are far different from our own.

The principle I began to establish above relating to the movement of poverty can I think be simplified down to one simple, and truthful claim, "The poor you will always have with you," stated by Jesus Christ himself. And the world is constant proof of the truth contained in His words. I challenge you then to open your eyes beyond the world that lies on your front doorstep, in your state, or even in your country. Go there, or at least read a bit, watch a movie that presents you with the uncomfortable reality that not everyone lives in the same state as we here do. Not all of us has the ability to do something about this poverty, and the accompanying violence that can sometimes characterize the struggle to survive. But what impact will you have on the world at large? Will you perpetuate an ignorant society that thrives on what it has, but does not often think of how these things are possible? Does our prosperity truly depend on poverty elsewhere? All I ask you to do is think about it, think with me and open your eyes to the Truth. Yes it is challenging, and yes it forces us to look beyond where we may feel comfortable. But there is true freedom there, a better understanding of that man that walks by and speaks with a funny accent, or the family that converses in a foreign language, or the woman on the bus who veils her face; to us they may seem strange customs, but have we ever really asked why they are here?

And some of these persons are I daresay the fortunate ones. They were able to escape their circumstances to new opportunity for a better life here, which by the way is the only thing this country promises: the OPPORTUNITY for a better life, we do not have a right to any kind of prosperity outside of that which we ourselves go out and earn with the sweat of our backs or the fatigue of our minds. And these that come often have no fear of doing just this. And so, do we write them off as talking funny, or dressing weird, or do we ask the questions that lead to the truth? I think our lives could be all the richer for stopping, asking, and coming to a deeper understanding of the life experience of all God's people.