Have it Good

​Have it good
There is no doubt in my mind we have it pretty good.  We have a book that details a guy’s experiences in Somalia.  It has split since, but problems still abound.
In it this guy was saying how he was out in the countryside.  There were all these skeletons and rotting carcases along the road.   When they reached the village, the homes were full of women and children the same.  Apparently, the guys had gone looking for food and died on the way.  Those waiting for them died too.  Another village was full of children whose parents had been killed while another one was full of adults whose children had been killed.  They brought the two together in the hope families would be formed.
To me that is stark.  As was Stalin staving millions of his own.   Today there are situations people face that are beyond comprehension.  Man’s inhumanity to man.
Yet here I am in middle class Australia and if the internet is slow, I think I have a problem.  As a friend of ours says, “such a first world problem.”  Needing to go to the shop to get milk is an inconvenience.  Yet in one place in Somalia, there were heaps of children outside a warlord’s compound.  They would wait for the carcases of animals to be thrown over the wall, as it meant they had something to eat.  Food drops were organized but changed when people under the drops died when the food fell on them.
It is hard to say, and likely to be misunderstood, but in one sense they are the lucky ones.  Nothing proves what really matters like having nothing.  I would not wish that on anyone, and our problems are real and serious, but I cannot help but think they pale into insignificance compared to some.  For me, nothing proves what really matters like choosing between it and temporary relief.
Yet, I cannot work up guilt.  I am here.  I did not ask to be placed here.  The issues I and those around me face are life and death matters.  It is just I have a lot more good distractions.  I am totally thankful for them.  It seems to me it is the way it should be.  Depravation and bondage are to be avoided.  World powers seek to relegate them to the past.  But problems persist.  I put my hand in the dam to stop one leak, and another appears.  I run out of hands.
I enjoy what I have.  Good friends, good life, a nice place to live, and a good choice of activities which others are into to.  I love that I am not forced to adhere to someone’s stance to do this stuff.  It is my choice, and I will enjoy it while I can.