Growing up in capitalist America, we learn from a young age that our lives are a culmination of what we make them- good choices, bad choices, hard work or laziness... based on our choices, our lives will generally follow suit.
And we see examples all the time- kids from disadvantaged backgrounds work hard in school, earn scholarships to college and "get ahead." Likewise, sometimes very privileged kids make bad choices to party or skip school and end up dropping out, or even behind bars.
We are the land of opportunity, the land of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps, of overcoming obstacles, of making something of yourself. Stories and books and movies all about people earning what they have through hard work, honesty, and good decisions.
I believe in this story too... sometimes. But I do not look back at my life and dare to believe I earned or did something to deserve everything I have. Granted, I did not have to work my way up like my father did- becoming independent at an early age, being the first in his family to think about, let alone go to college. Perhaps he has more of a justification to feel he "earned" what he did.
I, on the other hand, look back at my life and see so many blessings I never brought upon myself. I was born to parents who loved each other and were faithful to each other and who loved me. I was able to play as a child and participate in activities like piano lessons, dance classes, soccer, and theatre groups, always with the support of my family. My mother was always around to help with homework and shower my sisters and I with love and attention. We were all expected to excel in school and given the support we needed to do it. We were shown how to make good decisions by examples in our family and friends' families.
My base as a young child and then a young woman has served me in ALL that I have accomplished and all I will ever be. I have my parents to thank. I have God to thank. As for my own role, I have made some hard decisions and some sacrifices, but because of my upbringing, looking back it all seems relatively easy.
Juan Carlos has worked ever since he can remember. When his mother didn't have money and all they had was a couple cows, his uncle (his mother's brother) "charged" them to keep the cows on his land by using Juan Carlos and his brothers to work for him on his farm for years. He never paid them a dime. They would get up at 5:00am to milk the cows, take them out to the pasture, come home for lunch around 12:00noon, take a shower, and go to school. When Juan Carlos started this routine he was only 7 years old.
By the time Juan Carlos came to the United States at 17, he had already been working over half his life. It was natural just to keep working. Yet, in the now 20 years that my husband has been working, he probably hasn't made as much money as I have in 10. Why is that? Because he doesn't deserve it? He doesn't work as hard as me or others? He didn't choose the right "career"?
Why do we, who are privileged just to be born in a country where we can speak freely, where we can have a public education, where we can generally walk down the street and not worry about who will rob us, feel like we did something to deserve this?
We want to make New Americans (immigrants) jump through all kinds of hoops, years of waiting, thousands of dollars on lawyers and fees, passing citizenship tests that US citizens born here have consistently failed, so they can "earn" what we were born with. I may be crazy but I ask myself, "how is this fair?"
To me, it's like if your parents trust you with the inheritance and they put everything in your name and then, once you have it, you become so protective of it, you start making your brothers and sisters do favors for you or pay you to "earn" their part of the inheritance. You "earned" it because your parents "chose" you? You deserve to live in this country with all of its wealth and opportunity, why?
I will never deny that oftentimes people's decisions are a huge part of what leads them to where they are, but I will also never say that it's 100% of why some people are successful and others are not or why some people are rich and others are poor or why some people live lives others can only dream of. We want to believe we earned our lives because there's security in that- there's justification in that, there's a reason that we should be able to keep our "earnings" and enjoy them ourselves without having to share. If we "earned" our country, than we have a reason to keep our country to ourselves and not let anyone else in. It's safe and it's easy and the pride behind this attitude draws us farther and farther from the truth and from God.
"For what makes you different than anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive and if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you did not?" (Corinthians 4:7)
Lord, please give us the courage to think honestly and openly about our lives and what we have earned and what has been given to us. Help us to look outside ourselves and see the many other people who work hard, who seek opportunity, who make sacrifices we never see to have what we have. Remind us that everything we have, including our minds, our talent, our ability to make good decisions comes from you, the giver of life. NOTHING in this world is ours and all that you've given us is because you trust us to use it and care for it as your stewards. Help us to use your gifts wisely, thoughtfully and lovingly. Amen.
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