data plan vs. releasing children from poverty
As I was laying in bed last night–a thought hit me. I’m not completely sure why this thought hit me last night because I hadn’t thought about either of these things during the day. Maybe it was that stage right before you fall asleep, where you hallucinate a little bit or maybe it was…the Holy Spirit. I really don’t know what it was but it definitely made me think!
If you know me at all, you know I like tech gadgets. I like to be current with technology, if not a little bit ahead of the curve. However, you may consider me pre-historic because I don’t have the latest cell phone technology with a data plan–mostly because I haven’t been able to justify the cost. Sure, I would love the convenience of the virtual world at my fingertips everywhere I go! I’ve always dreamed of having the all-in-one device that plays music, videos, gives me directions with the latest maps, tells me what song is playing in that store at the mall, helps me navigate the constellations in the sky, checks my email, follows my social networks and makes a phone call. All of those things in one device would not only be entertaining but it would make my pockets lighter. But it comes at a price!
I remember having a conversation with a representative of my wireless network a few months ago. I was telling him that I couldn’t justify or afford the extra $30 a month for the data plan that comes with the latest smartphone. His question back was, “Do you have an extra dollar a day?” Wow, that makes it sound a lot cheaper, huh? Since then, I still have not added the data plan.
It wasn’t the thought of not having the data plan that haunted me last night–it was the salesman’s question.
There’s an organization that I hear about and see often at concerts and events that used to use the tagline, “For just a dollar a day…” Since then, the price has gone up a little bit due to the worldwide economy but Compassion is just one organization that helps provide food, water, shelter, clothes and education for children in poverty. The price to sponsor a child is $38 a month. Compare that to the $30 data plan.
Feed my need for technology or hear the cries of the oppressed?
I’m not a spokesman for Compassion, just a guy thinking about what really matters in life. At this point, I don’t sponsor a child OR subscribe to a data plan with my wireless carrier. I’m not sure what I’m going to do at this point…but at least I’m thinking about it, right? There will come a point in time where I need to put my thought into action.
I know God doesn’t need more apathetic philosophers to talk about what the Church is doing wrong but He needs some revolutionaries to show the Church what to do right!
I like what C.S. Lewis writes in his book Mere Christianity,
“But it [Christianity] also thinks that a great many things have gone wrong with the world that God made and that God insists, and insists very loudly, on our putting them right again.”
