What do you do when your senses are overwhelmed?

Imagine the non-stop sounds of cars honking, bells ringing, cattle, goats, chickens, motorcycles, and music blaring. There is the smell of raw sewage in the air, mixed with the smell of the incense so many of the Hindus use. There is also dust and diesel smoke in the air.  There are so many people and so much movement that your eyes are overwhelmed by the number of things they are trying to process.

View from the Roof of Where We are Staying

There are some thing though that stick in your mind more than others. For instance, the daily milk delivery. The milk cow or goat is brought to your door and milked in front of your house. Talk about fresh!

I am always surprised at the number of cows that are wandering the streets. There is no where near enough grass to feed them. They eat the garbage off the streets and whatever else can be found. One of the things we often see is large flatbed or dumb trucks caring stack of grain, rice and beans often pile eight or ten feet high. I have noticed the men who unload the truck toiling under huge burdens. The people here work very hard, often twelve hours a day six days a week. 

The pervasiveness of the poverty is overwhelming. I now am understanding Jesus’ words "the poor will always be with you". I don’t think Jesus meant this as an excuse to ignore the needs of the poor. 

  Hindu Temple

I now know though that poverty is part of the fall of man and that as followers of Jesus we have to recognize the affects of sin upon our world. Here (in India) a wealthy man will put a picture of a demon on his house to ward off the evil eye of the poor person who envy’s what he has. I’m not joking! People invoke demons to protect their home and property.

What give me hope in such circumstances? 

In the eyes of God we are all poverty stricken. I am no different that the beggar in the street. My poverty may be even greater because I think I am better off when in reality the wealthiest man in the world is just as poverty stricken in God’s eyes as the beggar. We are all lost. God knowing our poverty though chose to love and come alongside each one of us. He gave us the greatest gift we could ever ask for! 2 Corinthians 8:9 says,

9 You know how full of love and kindness our Lord Jesus Christ was. Though he was very rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.

I am trying to grasp the love of God and the only picture that I can get is that of the beggars I saw today. One ladies hands were deformed, her fingers twisted and at times missing. Another woman had a what looked like a huge tumorous mass on her leg. I saw so many others sleeping on the street with "no covering for their head". 

This morning we took a walk to the river which is hard to describe. It is all at once, the place where people wash their cloths, bathe and go the bathroom. There is a sea of humanity out their who know not the blessings of a clean home, a washer and dryer, or in door plumbing. Watching people bath in one area and literally squatting in another are not too far away was difficult. The smell of human and animal waste often permeates the air. 

As I think about the predicament of the poor though I realize that I also am poor in the eyes of God. Jesus divested himself of the wealth of heaven to care for me, love me, forgive me, save me. And because Jesus divested himself of so much shouldn’t I also be generous. He lost everything so I could have everything. He became nothing for me. No man who ever lived lost so much for others gain, my gain. 

As we work with the poor I am remember God’s generosity!