"Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that I need." -- from Proverbs 30: 7-9
From today's Trek card:
Viola, a study tour participant from Texas, shared her story with the group that morning. She had worked at a Dockers pants factory in San Antonio until Levi-Straus moved the operation to Central America to get cheaper labor. Since then, Viola had been working with the other laid-off workers to get the benefits Levi-Strauss owed them. Later we left to visit a maquila a factory where Hondurans assemble products for export to the Northern Hemisphere. As we walked into the maquila, tour members were surprised to see a huge Dockers sign at the entrance. During our tour, the plant manager spoke of the benefits the maquila industry brought the hundreds of young men and women bent over their sewing machines, sewing as fast as they could to make their daily quota. During the workers' lunch break, Viola sat in front of a machine identical to the one she had worked on in Texas, remembering the years when she had been happy earning money to support her family. Now, a Central American woman was sitting at her sewing machine, happy to be earning money to support her family. That evening, the group was confused as they processed the day. Viola was struggling to support her family after her layoff. Yet hundreds of Hondurans, while earning wages far below what Viola had earned, were making far more than they had ever earned anywhere else.
-- Daryl Yoder-Bontrager
This week we turn from Enough for Me to Enough for All. We are asked this question: Are we so interconnected with the rest of the world as to be like a balloon that puffs out on one end when it is squeezed on the other?
The financial crisis in the US today is paralleled around the world, as almost every country experiences high unemployment and falling GDP as a result of the global pandemic. Like Viola and the rest of the work team, we may be struggling to process what it all means. Will jobs lost here reappear in other countries? Will some companies completely close and widespread unemployment become the norm?
We are glad that consumption is down and pollution is temporarily slowed. But we are worried that so many families around the world are unsure how they will put food on the table. We are feeling strengthened by the close at hand examples of civic engagement, increased volunteerism, and the outpouring of generosity toward the many Covid-related appeals; yet disheartened by the sometimes selfish and foolhardy behavior of others.
We keep saying, "We're all in this together." As we move forward, we pray for wisdome to see that it will never be enough to settle for "enough for me" without also seeking "enough for all".
Questions for Today
What would need to happen in order to have enough work for both Viola and the woman in Honduras?
Do I know anyone who is out of work today?
Where can I find spiritual resources to navigate the dilemma of all these questions about enough?
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