the state of things

One thing I did not expect out of this trip to Mexico was the extent of the situation of poverty here. Through assigments for school and just experiencing the culture I have come to realize that the poverty of Mexico is something foreign to me and almost everyone who comes from the 1st world. More than 40% of the people here live below the poverty line. I was astonished to find that the minimum wage in my city (Puebla) is about 46 pesos a day. That's about $4.50 American dollars a day! A person can work a day at McDonalds here and make what a person in the states will make in an hour. 25% of the people who have degrees can't find work that pays what their education says they deserve. It is because of these two things that there is such a huge immigration problem to the U.S. No, it is not because they think America is an amazing country and want to experience life there. It is because they can work 1 hour doing intense physical labor that no one else will do and make more than they would make in one day in Mexico. This has been on my mind a lot lately.

I sat near a family of three one day coming home on the bus from church. They sold nuts and fruit and had huge buckets with all of their goods. The mother was reading her son's math book. The son was guarding the bucket of nuts as it was sliding everywhere when we went around turns. He seemed quite content. The father carried a bag of two sodas that I assumed would wash down their lunch. I was struck with the simple beauty of the family. They were dirty and poor, but they seemed satisfied. As they got off the bus the woman carried a sack of goods on her back and a bucket in her hand. The man carried the heaviest bucket and the sodas. The boy struggled with the last bucket which I am sure weighed more than half of his weight. There I was, in the face of poverty. My guess would be that the family makes less than 10 American dollars a day (that's the whole family). Yet, they went about what they were doing with love. In a situation like that complaining seems past trite. I think about the complaining I hear from above middle class people constantly and it really looks ridiculous. There is redemption among the poverty. A poor family of three with no hope of ever accomplishing monetary success or even comfort can live for the shear love of each other. And, whether they realize it or not, they live in the image of their creator, whose love is seen in their family far clearer than the middle class family down the street who complains about their lack of luxury and will be ripped apart by divorce in 5 months.