I am sure that Selma & Edward do not mean to say that "Charity does not begin
at home", nor do they mean that families ought not to band together to help
each other in times of need.
The original story was that a mother was "abandoned" by her two sons when
they left for another country, in search of work. They found it and basically
forgot all about mother, even when they came back to Goa on a visit, they
stayed only a very short while, leaving her alone, as a widow to cope on her
own.
Broken hearted & poor in spirit as well as ready cash, she passed away
eventually, but it was found that she saved some of the money, for her funeral.
This was found in her hand when a neighbour came by & saw her door ajar, went
indoors & found the body.
The majority of us can do better with our lives, but the older one gets, the
less of a memory we have. But we dont forget our children, in turn the
children ought not to forget their parents. Ok so the boys thought, the old
woman has a piece of land & a field, a house to live in what more does she want?
Maybe its true, she had all this but did she know how to convert this into
real money, cash she could have used? But is this really about money? Or is
it a wake up call to all of us to be a little kinder to our relatives, friends
and neighbours?
We can all provide ourselves with pensions, start saving in your 20's and you
will be laughing all the way to the supermarket checkout, you can buy anything
you want. But when you become a parent, of two or more children, try to work
out how much each child costs in terms of cash, over a year, not including
their private education if this is the way it goes and you will find the money
you ought to have for yourself and partner has actually deteriorated by over
70%.
Have your children and give them to the state to look after, save yourself
all the worry of caring and nurturing your children, the sleepless nights, the
worry when they develop asthma & the trips to the hospital, thinking this is
it, we will be coming back on our own this time. All the fuss and worry about
looking clean and smart when going to school, providing lunch money, they are
with you 24/7 and rely on you.
Why bother? Let someone else take care of them. Welcome to the 21st century.
Oh of course this is not the way forward for some people, but a good way out
if you want to provide for your own old age, after all children that we create
and the mother carries about with her for 9 agonising months (thanks to the
changes in hormones over this period, its not as bad for her, but if dad had to
do it, there would only be one-child families, believe me!).
Good luck to all who care & look after their children, perhaps we ought to
take more time to teach them a bit more about caring for the less fortunate a
bit more, and less about career chasing and putting off parenthood until their
mid-30's and in their 40's.
Charity begins and ought to grow, in the home, for parents, for children, for
neighbours and friends.There are several hundred ashrams in India where enough
children can be found abandoned due to parents dying of HIV / Aids, starvation
or just not enough room for them anymore, we need a safety net for these
people, not for the rest of the nation to consider dumping more onto the
ashrams. Perhaps even take a child from these ashrams if you have the room,
the money and the compassion to do this.
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selma wrote
This is life in the urban, 21st century. Please don'tlook to God or the Church
to sort out these verytangible problems. We as a society have to addressthem
head-on.
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Parents should not look forward to be looked after by their children, that is
the core issue.
As Khalil Gibran (a philosopher once said): "Children are NOT your children.
ED.
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