by Rose Beatrix C. Angeles (Trixie Cruz-Angeles)
Am I my brother's
keeper?
The other day, I walked past a man -- a boy really, sleeping
in the street. He lay amid a pile of garbage exhausted from his daily race to
survive.
I was busy, I had places to go. I had done it before --
walked past the least fortunate among us, trying to dismiss them from my mind.
I too have my own race to run, a family to provide for, a nation to save.
Things to do!
But not that day.
Maybe it was his position. He was half- leaning,
half-sprawled against an electric post, amid the detritus of someone else's
party. He looked as though, he had stopped for a while, just to rest, but
exhaustion drove him to sleep.
I had to look closely to see if he was dead. When I
approached him, I noticed he was breathing. My companion pulled me away. Stop.
He said. You cannot help the whole world. You can only help yourself.
Against my better judgment, I walked away. I had dinner with
friends, came home and went online. My world must seem quite alien to that man.
But if I thought I had left him behind, I was wrong. This man is human, and
like all humans, has the power to touch others. We are all connected. And as he
drew in breath, he was connected still.
I do not feel daily pain and hunger. But I do feel his
hunger. I know he suffers. Yet we are taught to look away.
We are taught to refuse to give to obviously hungry children
and adults whose lack of opportunity compels them to abandon all dignity. We
are taught to look at the poor with suspicion. Beggars are syndicates. Street
children buy glue. The poor are lazy and sell their votes. They're the ones who
must bear the blame for our politicians' excesses. Ad nauseam.
By these words, we comfort ourselves and walk away. We train
ourselves not to hear or see them. But we are all connected. I have seen a
hungry man on the street, and I walked away. My actions did not change him. It
changed me. I had refused to help a fellow human being. But while he remained
hungry, I have been diminished.
To know more about Trixie Cruz Angeles, check out: I AM TRIXIE CRUZ
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