We had a visiting preacher at church this morning. A Godly man who preached out of Luke. He was relating a story about a recent mission trip to Guatemala, where he helped serve the downtrodden, poverty-stricken people of that country. Spreading the Gospel of Christ along with meals and a cot for those who needed it. Godly work.
Then he lost me. He was telling about a big tent that the community used as a gathering place and he was in there one night and found an old guitar. He picked it up and started strumming, singing a song that he knew, then noticed that the downtrodden had taken out their cell phones and were recording him.
What? Cell phones? That's where I draw the line. IF you have a cell phone, you ain't poor.
The cell phone is the technological marvel of the late 20th and early 21st century. Cell phones cost money, and cell service costs money, and if a person has a cell phone, they hold in their hands the complete knowledge of the human species from the pharos until today.
Fifty years ago, no one could afford a smart phone. At any price. I remember resisting the impulse to buy a cell phone plan because it was too expensive. And, I remember my first cell phone.
The people of Guatemala that the good pastor was helping may be a lot of things. Like everyone else, they need the Gospel, and I'm sure that they need food and a helping hand. But, if they have cell phones, they ain't po' folks.
5 comments:
Sorry friend but you are out of touch on this one. You can get a generic “smart” cell phone for very little money these days. A cursory search shows them for 30-40 dollars at big box stores like Walmart. There are a variety of plans including pay as you go.
They are cheaper in other countries, particularly ones where generic/ counterfeit stuff is available and currency is worth less
Folks can absolutely be poor and have a cell phone these days.
Generic, entry-level cell-phones can be purchased for $15 apiece, wholesale FOB China.
Most adults in Ghana (Africa) and India and Pakistan have one. The signal might suck, but it is how they find work-gigs (cheaper than riding a motorcycle looking for work) and tell Uncle Dilip that rice is on sale at the local distribution center.
Poor in spirit manifests itself in every aspect of life.
In Africa, the first thing a family did when they had a few extra clams, buy a bra for the missus.
In Mexico, the first thing to buy when able, a color TV. Like badges, signs of moving on up. Nonetheless, a bandaid to cover a destitute condition.
In days gone by, in Guatamala, on odd days they'd turn the underwear inside out. Like wearing a fresh pair. Today, that may be the cell phone which has become as ubiquitous as that plastic white chair strewn throughout the world.
Notice, as far as we know, they did not join in to sing. No happy hearts there.
The poor in spirit may be absolutely submerged by earthly treasuries.
Don't no one tell me that they haven't noticed this before.
But the juxtaposition of the poor whipping out cell phones possesses a stark clarity.
As lightly touched upon by a previous comment, the cell phone requires a plan. Like the daily $5 coffee, I may not seem like much. But it adds up. It adds up especially to the poverty stricken. That makes it more implausible. And it begs the question; Just how poor are they?
Po' folk make bad decisions. As much as the sun rises in the east, this is true.
If one is poor, whether how little the cost of a cell and plan, that is assets misspent.
I lived my starving days. No, literally. One morning while walking to church, I found a ten cent coin. I felt like the richest man in the world. True story. Bad fortune had fallen upon me, but did not over take me. If cell phones had existed then, I wouldn't have ever considered one. Even that which was offered to me, if it bore any cost now or later, I declined.
The poor will always be with us. So this isn't old fuddy duddy me not keeping up with the times. Some fall into a poor state by their own hand. Some stay there, again by their own hand.
My wife was on a medical mission to the Congo, Imfundo, about 15 years ago. People, there, for the most part had nothing; but they had cell phones.
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