Is One Life Enough?

If you can touch one life, you can change the world

Sitting in front of school the other day, I was blatantly confronted by poverty. A woman walked by calling out, "Hello Muzungu, how are you?" Responding back, I said, "Hello, I am well and how are you?" "I am not well," came the terse reply, "Give me Money!" Shocked at this unabashed request I was stunned into inaction. Instantly being torn from the inside out, I lied, replying that I had no money. Seeing through my facade, that woman called me out and I simply relented, "sorry."

Instantly these words flooded my mind...

"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'"

-Matthew 25:41-45

Did I just miss an opportunity? The immediate answer is yes, but the underlying context begs further attention.  Walking down the streets of Kampala people scream for help both in words and expression, how can I give to each one? Who is more deserving? What should the determining factors be? How can I weigh one life against another?

Contemplating this situation can quickly drive one into depression.  Am I to go go into complete poverty in order to feed a city for a day, or is there some other way? If I can't help them all, what is the point of helping one?

Still seeking an answer, I feel this is a search that has only just begun.  In the mean time, I am not ready to relinguish my core beliefs, like the following story illustrates...

One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed 

a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean. 

Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?”

The youth replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean. 

The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”

“Son,” the man said, “don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? 

You can’t make a difference!”

After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, 

and threw it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said…”

I made a difference for that one.”