The Lady in the Street
He's back from India.
Jet lag is a real drag...but he's here...safe.
I thought it was a real hardship...being a single parent for 12 days. I know, those of you who have lived that, who have that merit badge for single parenting are laughing at me now..."she thinks that was a hardship?"
There were times last week when I even felt a little sorry for myself. Leaving the microphone, starting new work, and he wasn't even here.
He brought back lots of pictures, some 1400 of them. But there's just one that I can't get out of my mind. The lady in the street. Sitting in the street, begging, her son curled up and sleeping with his head on her lap.
Of course, I don't know if he was sleeping...I assumed, because I'm an American who thinks that doing without a husband for 12 days is a real hardship. Maybe he wasn't sleeping at all, he was just too weak, too hungry to sit up next to her and beg.
My husband apologized for the resolution of the photograph...he said it didn't fully tell the story. He was riding in a bus and shot the picture through the glass.
You see, the picture didn't capture the tears that he saw streaming down her cheeks...sitting in the middle of the road...her son's head in her lap.
I'm not mad at myself for not understanding. For not being able to relate to what that life would be like...sitting IN THE STREET...weeping...begging...with a child huddled next to me...how could I?
In this country, we get mad about noisy neighbors who don't weed their flower beds. We're irate over some comment that a pinhead in Hollywood has made. We're so frustrated with slow moving traffic that causes us to be in our climate controlled vehicle for a few more minutes. We're busy navel gazing about how we're unfulfilled and wonder when it will be time for "us."
How could we relate? The abundance in which we live is like the novacaine my dentist uses before he drills on my teeth. The more the abundance, the less I feel anything...especially compassion and connection with an unfortunate woman weeping in the street on the other side of the world.
If I had been there...If I had seen her...maybe I would have gotten down in the dirt with her and told her about how difficult my life has been lately...cause its just not easy to make a major job change and have a husband away for 12 days!
Would I ever have anything to say to her?
Maybe I'll just delete the picture...and go back to worrying about that car repair that needs to be done...now that's a real pain...
Jet lag is a real drag...but he's here...safe.
I thought it was a real hardship...being a single parent for 12 days. I know, those of you who have lived that, who have that merit badge for single parenting are laughing at me now..."she thinks that was a hardship?"
There were times last week when I even felt a little sorry for myself. Leaving the microphone, starting new work, and he wasn't even here.
He brought back lots of pictures, some 1400 of them. But there's just one that I can't get out of my mind. The lady in the street. Sitting in the street, begging, her son curled up and sleeping with his head on her lap.
Of course, I don't know if he was sleeping...I assumed, because I'm an American who thinks that doing without a husband for 12 days is a real hardship. Maybe he wasn't sleeping at all, he was just too weak, too hungry to sit up next to her and beg.
My husband apologized for the resolution of the photograph...he said it didn't fully tell the story. He was riding in a bus and shot the picture through the glass.
You see, the picture didn't capture the tears that he saw streaming down her cheeks...sitting in the middle of the road...her son's head in her lap.
I'm not mad at myself for not understanding. For not being able to relate to what that life would be like...sitting IN THE STREET...weeping...begging...with a child huddled next to me...how could I?
In this country, we get mad about noisy neighbors who don't weed their flower beds. We're irate over some comment that a pinhead in Hollywood has made. We're so frustrated with slow moving traffic that causes us to be in our climate controlled vehicle for a few more minutes. We're busy navel gazing about how we're unfulfilled and wonder when it will be time for "us."
How could we relate? The abundance in which we live is like the novacaine my dentist uses before he drills on my teeth. The more the abundance, the less I feel anything...especially compassion and connection with an unfortunate woman weeping in the street on the other side of the world.
If I had been there...If I had seen her...maybe I would have gotten down in the dirt with her and told her about how difficult my life has been lately...cause its just not easy to make a major job change and have a husband away for 12 days!
Would I ever have anything to say to her?
Maybe I'll just delete the picture...and go back to worrying about that car repair that needs to be done...now that's a real pain...
posted by The "H" Family @ 11:21 PM
4 Comments:
At 5:57 PM,
Anonymous said…
That is a great picture!
Rich and increased with goods and in need of nothing! Self centered, me?.....How scary that is!
God lay some soul upon my heart that you may do a work through me!!
I miss your show Amanda!!
At 10:12 PM,
Anonymous said…
Maybe you should mass produce that picture and send to those who whine about the price of gas for their giant cars that take them to their regular Dr. appointments (I doubt she has those), dinner dates (thinking any food would be a blessing … dinner in a restaurant – a small miracle), Wednesday night Bible study or Sunday morning sermon (Can’t help but wonder how much wonder she would find in the Bible).
Maybe one or two of us would take our eyes off our own, truly minimal, issues … self included – absolutely!
Glad the Mr. is home - safely. Single parenting is no fun, regardless of the length.
Miss your show too, your daily wit and wisdom …
Hugs,
Nettie
At 10:50 PM,
Anonymous said…
Amanda you are still passing on the wisdom and making us think out of the box.This really made me sit up in my seat and become very humble. Thank you Amanda for allowing God to continue to work through you to speak to all of our hearts. This makes me realize how incredibly wrapped up I can get.
At 1:33 AM,
Anonymous said…
Amanda, I looked at that picture this morning and it touched me. Then later today I was out running around buying groceries and doing errands not really enjoying the process. As I was sitting in traffic my mind went back to that picture and I just started to cry. How can we be so out of touch with the rest of the world? Like you, I can't image living her life. There are times when things get tough from payday to payday, but I always have enough food for me and my 2 cats, and we always have a safe, warm home to live in.
I think that woman and her little child will haunt me for a long time, which is a good thing. I think we need to be jolted out of our comfortable little lives sometimes and realize there are people in the world who have real problems.
Thanks for sharing that with us,
Mary Ann
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