There are children all over the world who won’t have a meal tonight. Not too big of a deal except for the fact that these children also didn’t have a meal for the last three days.
Every bite they do get they savor. They are thankful.
It’s easy to play the “there’s starving kids in Africa” card when you need to prove a point (or get your kid to eat the rest of their food), but today I’ve been thinking about how real that is.
I’m at a conference in Denver Colorado at an extremely nice resort. The restaurants inside the hotel start their food at about $28 an entree. I’m extremely blessed to be in such a cool company that flys me out to a conference and then pays for everything while I’m here, but I can’t help but feel guilt.
Some of that is imposter syndrome. I am way out of my league here at a medical conference. But beyond that, I just wonder what could be done if people actually cared about people other than themselves.
I am not opposed to vacationing or having a good time by any means. In fact, I think it’s extremely healthy and is often needed. But the expense that is often put into these kinds of things is astonishing to me.
While you’re eating your 35 dollar entree, people haven’t eaten in two weeks.
Maybe even more irritating to me is seeing churches spending thousands upon millions of dollar into new buildings and new “programs.” What if instead of your state-of-the-art building and sound system you worked to send missionaries out or support people in the field who are trying to help people who haven’t slept inside a building for 3 years.
I’m greatly enjoying my time here at this conference and getting so much paid for me, but I don’t think I’ll be able to shake this feeling of guilt in my mind as long as I’m living like this and I know there are people who have never even dreamed of a life like this.