A day off

Well, it was not truly a day off, rather a day out of Abilene--which is welcome these days. (Side note, I am anxious for graduation, however will be sad to leave my friends.) Yesterday, I woke up at 6:30 and showered, and brewed a cup of joe, while Noel made me some great blueberry pancakes and a real fried egg (ie, the yolk was not runny.) Needless to say, good way to start out a good day. After that I drove to Austin, then back to Arlington with stops in Waco, Llano, and several other random short stops to take pictures for my world lit class. I hope to pictorally illustrate Italo Calvino's book Invisible Cities. Words cannot fully articulate how good this was for me. By capitalizing of my upper class mobility, I was able to rejuvinate my ideals, and stir the idea caldron.

Which kind of bleeds into one of the things that I throught about yesterday and some of today: People who live in the upper classes live in a completely different world than the lower classes. My exposure to (experiential) fiction such as The Jungle or Wild Thorns has allowed me to realize that people in the lower and lowest classes of any society do not have a chance to fully formulize ideals, worry about politics (to some degree), or really fulfill many life long dreams-- because they are too busy trying to surivive. As advances in thought, technology, or science were made, people had more time on their hands. Naturally, a farmer would have more time to think if he didn't have to spend all day, every day tending his fields-- thus, enters the horsedrawn plow and the Hegelian Dialectic.

What I have been able to see is that, although it is easy for me to point the finger at lower class individuals who cross my ethical bounderies, or violate one of my social norms, I cannot judge and must continue to love and try to understand them. It is not just for me to hold them to some well developed standard (that I have spent the last 4-6 years developing), while they have to work all day, to even make enough to survive (plus, I am not going to get into the living conditions of the poor and working poor- naturalism.)

So, next time I drive by a homeless person (and hopefully have cash or food in the car), or have a chance to vote for some type of welfare reform, I will ungrudgingly support anyone who asks-- even if they are going to spend it on beer (matthew 10). At that point, it is between them and God. And plus, do you think God is going to think me an "unfaithful steward of your material possessions" because you gave collectively in your lifetime $500 to poor people on the street, or that you spent $52,920 on a H2?

Comments

  1. Justin13/4/06

    Good thoughts Patty. I appreciate you flying your kite last night at tryouts, because it gave me something to shoot for while I was batting.

    ReplyDelete

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