Relief

A couple days ago some fairly heavy rains came down.  I had just gotten home, so I stood on the balcony and enjoyed the cool breeze.  The rain was quite a relief as it has been in the 100’s the last few weeks (and I don’t even want to go into the heat index and humidity levels!).  It’s hot season here in Cambodia, so rain, for me, is precious.  As I stood and looked at the rain falling from my sturdy concrete apartment, I started to feel a little guilty about being happy about the rain.  Most Cambodians dread the rain.  It makes riding motorcycles and bikes much more difficult.  It comes in through the cracks in their roofs and floods quickly, sometimes dumping raw sewage into their homes.  As I thought about this, I found myself singing the song from my childhood about the story Jesus told of the wise man and foolish man:

The wise man built his house upon the rock.
The wise man built his house upon the rock.
The wise man built his house upon the rock.
And the rains came a tumbling down.

The rains came down and the floods came up.
The rains came down and the floods came up.
The rains came down and the floods came up.
And the house on the rock stood firm.

The foolish man built his house upon the sand.
The foolish man built his house upon the sand.
The foolish man built his house upon the sand.
And the rains came a tumbling down.

The rains came down and the floods came up.
The rains came down and the floods came up.
The rains came down and the floods came up.
And the house on the sand went splat!

I know this song is metaphorical, but I found myself asking, but what about Cambodians who want to have sturdy and safe housing but can’t afford it?  They aren’t foolish.  They just don’t have the resources.  And then I remembered something Martin Luther King Jr. had said,

“For you will never be what you ought to be until they (your fellow humans) are what they ought to be.”

I’ve always liked that quote.  What a good reminder that we are only as good the weakest person, that justice for others not only helps them but helps me, and injustice for others not only hurts them, it hurts me.  It is easy for me in my safe, concrete apartment to watch the rain and think of myself as wise, but I guess I really can’t consider myself wise until everyone else on Earth has the resources they need. 

This reminds me of something else Jesus said:

“But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.”  --1 Corinthians 1:27

I am humbled.

--Katy