Jump Start # 4061

 

 “Now there was a certain rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, gaily living in splendor every day. “And a certain poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores.” (Lk 16:19-21)

 

Throwback Thursday: an article written from the past

 

The Good Life

 

An American spent some time in Tanzania, Africa. On his return flight to the U.S. he wrote the following observations.

 

Although Americans and Tanzanians live on the same planet, they live in different worlds. We are hundreds of years ahead of them medically, educationally, materially and technologically. In areas like transportation, hygiene, farming, food preparation, their lifestyle does not even register on the same scale with the American way of life. We would not trade places with them for anything. Yet Tanzanians seem to laugh more than Americans. They have large families with plenty of kids playing all the time. They don’t seem so “rushed” as we are.

 

Here are some comparisons between Americans and Tanzanians. Who really has the “good life?”

 

u They worry about getting enough protein in their diet; we worry about getting too much cholesterol and fat.

 

u They wear their clothes out because they wash them on a rock; we throw ours out because they are out of style.

 

u They worry about chasing rats away; we try to keep up with the “rat race.”

 

u They are poor and humble; we are rich and proud.

 

u Their women never wear pants in public (only dresses); our women hardly wear anything at all.

 

u Their children are poorly clothed but sit quietly through a two hour church service; our children  who are dressed in the latest fashion, cannot sit still and must leave every few minutes to get a drink or to go to the bathroom.

 

u They worry about malnutrition, under nourishment and starvation; we worry about anorexia, obesity and bulimia.

 

u They have no Bibles but beg for them; we have several copies but rarely open them.

 

u They live in misery and long for Heaven; we live in luxury and doubt the afterlife.

 

u They live in mud huts with no doors, but are unafraid; we live in mansions with locked doors and security systems and fear for our lives.

 

u They have little and want little; we have much and want more.

 

u They are poor and satisfied; we are rich and miserable.

 

u Their children play with homemade toys for hours; our children get bored if the TV is turned off.

 

u They die at 40 from malaria and typhoid; we die at 50 from hypertension and lung cancer.

 

u They laugh; we get stressed.

 

u They sit around and visit; we are always in a hurry.

 

u They humor themselves with good stories; we must turn on the TV or go to a movie to laugh.

 

u They have little and waste not; we have much and waste much.

 

u They know nothing about computers, DVD’s, cell phones, 401’s, health insurance, microwaves, garage door openers, air conditioning, or McDonald’s. We know nothing about mud huts, washing clothes in a river, “natural” childbirth, eating bugs, digging for roots, having no shoes and surviving out in the rugged.

 

Our worlds are different. But we both have the same kind of soul, and we both have the same God over us, who loves us equally and sent His son to die for our sins. Let us learn to be thankful and not greedy. Let us appreciate and share. Let us learn that “things” are not what life is about. Let us enjoy life as our Tanzanian friends do.

 

Roger

August, 2001