Picture taken January 7th REUTERS/Jim Young http://blogs.reuters.com/photographers-blog/tag/poverty/

This picture is inspiring. It exemplifies one of the many ways we can do our good turn daily. As a Christian and a scout I have been taught to do a good turn daily, the scout slogan. The bible also states, “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed” (Proverbs 19:17). This man is battling poverty, not by giving the man money which would only be used to buy more alcohol or narcotics, but buy giving him what he needs, a warm pair of shoes for the winter. It is actions like this that we need to focus on. My favorite analogy of poverty is that it’s a hole and once u dig down far enough that you can’t get out, it requires assistance from another to ever be able to leave that hole. I like to believe that in many cases, the needy are the most humble and pure people on this world and that the rich are the most corrupted. I believe that God made the poor not to test the hearts of those suffering, but to test the hearts of the rich, giving them an opportunity to use their wealth the way God intended. One of the many virtues of Christians is sacrifice, because those who sacrifice everything on earth, get rewarded in heaven tenfold. However, it is important to remember one cannot make it into heaven on deeds alone. Helping out the poor is one way to do a good turn daily, and the benefits are shared by both the receiver and the giver. Go help someone today.

Love is an odd affliction of the mind. It is one of the most unstable emotions we poses and it can appear in many forms under many varying situations. It can form some of the strongest bonds among mere strangers and can drive people to do the most terrible actions. Love by itself can satisfy the most depressed persons, or it can push the most satisfied people to go as far as to take their life. Anyone who claims they can live without love is either nuts or lying, and love is different for every person. Love changes the world every day, in both positive and negative forms. However, there is a question I asked myself a long time ago. What makes love so powerful? It took me a night without sleep, but I was able to come up with an answer that satisfied my imagination. Love finds its power in relationships, bonds formed between two or more people. You can be sad, afraid, angry, in grief, sympathetic, and even proud all by yourself. No one else is required. But love requires at least one more person. Even self-love. Self-love derives from satisfaction, and satisfaction is dependent upon the environment. But love requires two or more people. Some loves are an open bond between two or more people, like a couple or a family. Some loves derive from a fixation, where one person is loving and the other person is contributing by just being present. Love finds its unique strength in bonds. It takes two to tango and therefore, it becomes more satisfying, requiring a joint effort between two or more people. Psychologically, your mind needs to form relationships with other people, and love is the strongest relationship you can acquire. But we have been talking about love as if it is a single emotion. Love is a complex set of varying emotions, some of which have a name and some that don’t. The uniqueness of each case of love, each individual relationship, is found in the differing mixtures of each of these smaller emotions, like the different recipes for a thanksgiving turkey. We all cook the turkey, and some things, like the turkey, don’t vary. But the size, the spices, the cooking time, and even the sides all vary. This is also what makes love such a hard emotion to understand. Family love is different from couple love, yet we all require both. However, the most powerful love I have ever experienced is the love given to me from God himself. Such a pure and unwavering love, one I don’t deserve and one I will never fully be able give back. He loved us so much, he sacrificed his only son, risking losing him to the devil, just so that we could, once again, be set free of sin. Yet he knew that even two thousand years later, there would still be people, his own creation, who would refuse to accept this love. If that is not love, then I don’t know what is.

“People who live on hills sleep so close to the stars they forget those of us who live too much on earth. They don’t look down at all except to be content to live on hills. They have nothing to do with last week’s garbage or fear of rats. Night comes. Nothing wakes them but the wind” (Cisneros 86)
For a person who is not in a financial crisis, like Esperanza, this statement is astounding. As the wealthier class, we like to believe that we do more good than bad to these people. But there is an ignorance among us that only the downtrodden will ever see. We are peoples of luxury. For the most part, Americans are pretty materialistic, desiring multitudes of clothes, healthy food, electronic commodities, and so much more. America is one of the wealthiest nations in the world but the poverty gap is extremely large. There are many programs and organizations tasked with defeating poverty but they are failing miserably. It is too big a job to tackle, even for a large organization like the Salvation Army. So a question must be asked: how much do we really help the less fortunate? Do you ever give food or money to a homeless person when u see them on the corner? Do you ever help out at the can food drives or homeless shelter on the weekend? I know I don’t and I’m ashamed. People like Esperanza curse at us when we walk by because we are selfish with what we own. We don’t ever look down, to see the real problem in today’s society. You don’t see sons of billionaires spray painting trains. U don’t see blue collar men mugging people in an ally. To prevent this we must open our eyes to the true problem. These people can’t or won’t help themselves, and our complacency is not solving anything either. Look down upon the poor and throw a lifeline. Give a meal to a hurting family on a Sunday night and encourage them to come to church. By the homeless man a happy meal, with caution mind you. Donate your time at a homeless shelter. Poverty can only be cleaned up by those who own the mops. It’s your turn.

Dear Esperanza,
I regret my decision to marry greatly. It took me a while, but I’m now finally opening up. Esperanza, do not marry early! Forget tradition, this is hell. I’m trapped in my own home, not able to set foot outside of my prison. He doesn’t even like it when I look out the window because he fears ill start dreaming again. Sometimes he comes home drunk, more drunk than a bum with money. He comes home drunk and does mean things, very mean things. He won’t let any of my friends come over, either. I no longer have a life. I am a slave to his biddings, I have no free will anymore. I wish I was exaggerating but unfortunately I’m not. I had dreams of becoming a doctor. Get through high school and go to a junior college, do good and move on to a better collage. Once I became a doctor, I would have been free of this poverty trap. I could have walked away and never have looked back. However, in high school my grades started dropping and other things started getting my attention. I got distracted by petty desires and now I’m paying for it. A life sentence in this jail with a monster I once loved. I was foolish back then and I lost it all. Esperanza, do not make my mistake! Shoot for the stars and worry about that petty stuff later. Love will find you when its time, but opportunities only come once. The door to freedom is just around the corner for you, Esperanza. Go do something impressive.

Love,
Sally