#1. Beggars and Christians

So part of my assignment is to write a few blogs. I am not particularly sure as to what I would like to write about but I do know there are quite a lot of issues that I would most definitely like to write about. Just not too sure what would be a good theme for my blog for this assignment. While I would like to write about things that happen on campus, I am not entirely sure whether this would be a good idea for now since  well….the last time that sort of brought up a few issues with management and staff..

Okay well I guess I would have to come up with something. So just sitting here by myself thinking and trying to conjure up something I have decided to come up with an issue that deals with people on a daily basis. I guess I would call it “fara has issues” because it is entirely different and there is no specific theme to it. My thoughts goes a while back and also a reason why I wanted to take social work which I had not known existed in USP.

The first issue I would like to write about is how we treat our beggars here in our great nation to be more specific how Christians treat beggars on a daily basis.

Source: Fiji Times

Sure, maybe when they are in the church there is quite a hype about them, kindness that seems to disappear when in public. I will tell you a story and this story happens to be a true story because I was there when it happened. 

Some time back there was a lady who was what one would call a homeless beggar in the streets of Suva. She was old and dark and she wore a dress that had turned black but was probably another color when it was clean. My best friend and I had walked towards the Central bus stop when this kid came running and smacked the lady right in the face with a piece of wood. Keep in mind this big lady was a very dark skinned lady. The place where the stick had landed made a mark on her face and it was almost white. You could hear the stick when it landed on her face. She was crying out so loud like a wounded animal. My friend and I wanted to go to her and tried to but she was also lashing out so we just turned and went to the bus. Before we got to the bus, we turned to see itaukei people, my people, laughing at her distress. I was pretty darned hurt that day. I could not understand what was funny about this incident. I really tried to keep my tears from running because well it is Fiji. You either cry just in a funeral or you cry in church. Anywhere else that would be a little weird. [Blame it on the Fijian mentality]. The reason I say Christians were there was because they have these people performing in “Open air concerts” in the city trying to spread the word of God, but when I saw how they just stood there, having sort of like a smug look on their faces, I made the decision right there and then, “God if your people are like this, I never want to be called a Christian. Look at them and how they act. Who wants to be a part of a people that says something, yet do something else entirely? I started to hate all kinds of Christians. However there has been a few that have been exceptions to my rule about disliking Christians. When I say a few, I mean very few.  This lady now sits at the Samabula bus stop. If you see her around, give her some food, will you or a change of clothes. I read in 1 Timothy 5:2 which read...

......Speak to younger men as brothers, older women as mothers…

so one would think that when you see a mother hurting, wouldn’t you try to go out there to help heal her hurt. Who knew the circumstances of this old lady. Was she a mother,a grandmother,a daughter at one time. Who knew why she was in this situation. Why did her kids not come for her or had she been barren. 

It goes on to say in verse 3, 

Honor widows who are truly in need

One of the things that I have noticed with churches is that they usually ask you to give money. Not only money but a lot of time. I have come up with this concept of church does not mean the building itself but of the people, the souls that connect with God or try to. There was one time back when I had been forced to go to church and I did go. Thing about this church which I will not name was that they brought out these two tables and put a white sheet above it and it had the words “debt free” sprayed painted on it. What the preacher was saying was along these lines..

You bring down what you think this God is worth. He has done a lot for you, he died for you on the cross where you were supposed to be, but he did that for you instead. He did this for you, did that for you.. so you bring down what you think this God is worth. Reach into your pockets and you bring down what you think he is worth. By Monday your mortgages are going to be paid off, your bills

I thought this was pretty stupid and called it “emotional blackmail.” Does that mean God loves those Christians more than the rest of us because they gave more money. Will their bills really be paid off. Does God really want their money. I understand you have to give tithe but not like this where they use Jesus death to emotionally blackmail you into giving. Their mortgages did not get paid off. Accountants are not thick-minded. Neither did God create idiots to be accountants. I guess though it had already been prophesied at one time. We were just not listening. Isaiah 29:13 reads,

These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away. And their worship of e amounts to nothing more than human laws learned by rote

Do I wish to piss people off?  No, that is not my intention. Take it constructively. Do I believe in God? Yes I do but I just do not believe in his church. A man once said if you want to be rich, build a church. I see pastors driving around in their cars but I never see pastors picking up his congregation when thee are on foot,  on his way to the church. I never see pastors picking up a blanket and giving it to a homeless person or sheltering the 5-6 people that are homeless on the streets. The same people who have become a familiar sight in our nations. Yet we save so much money to build more churches. Do we need more churches? I see churches that have many rooms in its location. Can you not use one of those rooms to shelter a few? We do not have hundreds of homeless people in the city, just a handful like almost 10. Why do I write about this? Because I believe that this needs to come out. People should not be ignorant. They should not take the word of a pastor from his mouth, rather they ought to try and read the bible themselves and question things. Ignorance is bliss but it is also costly. I remember reading a verse in the bible that speaks about leaders of the church and priests that will put so much demand on the church members in money terms but will never lift a finger to help, yet they walk around looking important. While I find this to be a little funny and a little true sometimes, I also find it to be a little irritating for all parties involved. I will stop now because I am a little tired, but don’t worry my next post will be a more positive one. Thank you for reading my thoughts. Below is a little poem I wrote. I hope you enjoy it. It is dedicated to the homeless beggar that sits in the streets everyday. 

Source: scaramouche.deviantart.com 

Rose in the Torn Dress

By Faranisese Ratu

an old woman walks across the street,

alone and frail she seems

battered feet and her torn dress,

will anyone give her rest.

She sits alone and minds her own,

She must be lonely, lets give her hope.

she wears that same dress everyday,

hadn’t she outgrown it, they seem to say.

doing her best to sow the patches,

i wish she’d one day see the pastures.

her mind seems to wander far,

i wonder what she is thinking of

is she angry,sad or hurt

i’d give a penny for her thoughts.

people laugh and turn their nose

when they see this particular rose,

I wish they’d see the pearl inside

but they would much prefer not having insight.