POWER

One of the hikes led us to a private beach.

I was trying to get the monkeys to come down to the beach.

A visit to Micoal and Berta was very eager to have a picture with everyone.

Berta and me!

Aimee and I got a free horse ride when the man that sells them almost crushed our heads with his horses!

Caught it with his bare hands ;)

         A friend sent me a letter a few days ago and one line in the letter has been on repeat like a mantra in my brain since opening it.

No matter how horrific or disturbing of a situation you face in poverty no one can ever take away your ability to look at such a dire situation and envision something better.

         A few days ago, Aimee and I were relaxing on the beach and a 23-year-old from New York who was working in a fancy law firm in the middle of Time Square started telling us all about his job. He explained that one of the coolest things about being in the middle of Times Square was that he could work all day, go get an espresso and then go back to work without sleeping; I can’t say that I was envious. I wanted to ask the guy where he found fulfillment in life but I knew the answer. He, like culture has tamed us to believe thinks that if you can rack up money and power then you will feel satisfied. When I looked at this guy, I felt just as much compassion for him as those that live in el Rio.

         It was a reminder that while I am in an area where poverty is the problem, at home it may just be the opposite. After talking to the New Yorker, Taylor’s letter was a reminder again with a new perspective. To me, he says that looking at a dire situation and being able to envision something better is the most power a person could ever have. Like, he said, it is something that no one can ever take away. If it is power that the Western world tells us we need; this is the kind of power we should be looking for. It is the power to see what needs to be changed with compassionate eyes rather than greedy. It is the power to help someone without the idea of making a profit. The day I forget the power of my ability to see the better, to find light in a dark situation is when I have become just as caught up in the world as the man from New York who drinks coffee in the mornings as his only sustenance.

          Below is a poem that I remember having read in high school. I read it again today and I was shocked. Nearly all of the claims that Dr. Moorehead makes about what the negatives in our world are Western ideas. When I read The Paradox of Our Age, I felt guilty because they were things that I had thought of, times that I fall short of finding true enjoyment in life. The people here in Jaco, don’t worry about taller buildings, having too much, or eating fast food because they don’t have the means to do so. They laugh all the time, they don’t have very much, they pray a lot, and they enjoy one another. Lesson learned: there is a fine line between the wonders of the Western world and the wonders of the developing. The trick is to find the middle ground and use power to right the wrong, and keep love and compassion at the root of all power.

         It is Sunday and in Jaco, everyone will spend the day with their family and friends. They wake up and eat breakfast together, they sit around and talk, they go to church, and they head to the beach together to play soccer. Point being, they give their time to one another. I hope my friends and family members back home have time to do the same.

THE PARADOX OF OUR AGE

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints; we spend more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy it less.

We have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time; we have more degrees, but less sense; more knowledge, but less judgment; more experts, but more problems; more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get angry too quickly, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too seldom, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We've learned how to make a living, but not a life; we've added years to life, not life to years.

We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor. We've conquered outer space, but not inner space; we've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul; we've split the atom, but not our prejudice.

We write more, but learn less; we plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait; we have higher incomes, but lower morals; we have more food, but less appeasement; we build more computers to hold more information to produce more copies than ever, but have less communication; we've become long on quantity, but short on quality.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion; tall men, and short character; steep profits, and shallow relationships. These are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare; more leisure, but less fun; more kinds of food, but less nutrition.

These are days of two incomes, but more divorce; of fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throw away morality, one-night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer to quiet to kill.

It is a time when there is much in the show window and nothing in the stockroom; a time when technology has brought this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to make a difference, or to just hit delete...

By Dr. Bob Moorehead