Serving the less fortunate is not attractive for many. I was stricken by this reality. It’s sad to think that others look at them that way or dare not to look at them at all.
I remember two years ago, we were given the chance to serve the unfortunate children in an institution. The kids were either abandoned or were voluntarily given by their parents for “safekeeping.” In the middle of the program, a little girl approached me.
[second_picture]Little girl: Ate, hanggang dito pala umaabot ka. (Ate, you also go here as well.)
Ashel: Ha? (What?)
Little girl: ‘Di ba taga Vito Cruz ka? (You’re from Vito Cruz, right?)
Ashel: Oo. Dun ako nag-stay pag nasa Manila ako. Paano mo nalaman? (Yes. I stay there when I am in Manila. How did you know?)
Little Girl: Isa ako sa binigyan mo ng hamburger nung Valentine’s Day! Sarap nun, ate! Saya-saya namin ng mga kaibigan ko nun! Hindi mo tanda? (I was one of those children whom you had given burgers last Valentine’s Day! My friends and I were so happy! It was so delicious! Don’t you remember?)
I was dumbfounded. I totally forgot that I gave away burgers on that year’s Valentine’s Day to street kids in Vito Cruz. Then this girl, the way she reminded me of it, seemed like she just ate the burger.
It’s amazing how our little response to love, our random act of kindness can actually fill up big spaces in someone else’s heart. May our common urge to love, hope, and care for the less fortunate flourish not only to people like them but also, most especially, to people like us.
The compassion developed in our hearts when we are faced with this reality is designed to fill it with more service. The more we let ourselves encounter poverty, the more we will be able to understand our call to love more. Serving the poor should be attractive because it is the poor who needs attention and it is in serving them that we are able to restore not only their dignity but also ours.
