We Are All Equal After All

We see them everyday out there in the streets. The beggars, the street children, people clothed in filthy, dirty rags - society's unwanted.

They are quite a common sight are they? So much so that most of us have sometimes gotten used to them.

Ever remember the first time you saw a young kid begging just out your car window? The feeling of sheer pity that most probably made you give alms. Maybe it was food or money you gave.

Is it still there now? Do you still get that all-important feeling of charity?

Charity is a virtue; an offshoot or branch that comes from love itself. That's how important it is.

That pity towards someone in need is what makes us human. Without it, there is no peace in us. And when there's no peace, no happiness.

To be insensitive to others makes us robots. Unfeeling, suppressing emotions of pity to remove any sense of guilt deadens the soul. It robs it of life, of vitality. It turns us into living dead.

You can often measure the degree of spirituality we have by a simple test: if you can fight the "superiority complex" that tempts you when you see a beggar, then you're on the right track spiritually.

We all know this is not easy at all.

More often than not we are tempted to feel somewhat superior to the beggar. Worse, some of us may even feel we are "greater children of God".

Some may try to fight their guilty conscience by rationalizing that the beggar may be lazy, or that he/she probably deserved it because of some wrongdoing or sin. That's hypocrisy.

Fact is, no one's special because we are all equally special to God.

We are all brothers and sisters in Christ.

Once you feel more special than others, that's the sin of vanity/pride. Your spiritual life would be going down if that keeps up.

Yup, that's a sign you're going down.

One can argue though that many of the beggars, street children out there are members of crime syndicates. They beg from people, then the money is given to the syndicates. The beggars are left with only a small amount as compensation.

This is a common argument. It is the one most often used so we can literally remove any feelings of guilt when we decide to turn the blind eye.

It is hard, isn't it? To give money as aid is to take the risk that your money will just go to crime syndicates controlling their vast network of beggars and street children. It is of course, a legitimate concern.

However, there are other better ways than just giving money. It cannot always be used as an excuse not to help. It's better really to give food rather than cash to the beggars/street children out there.

Leftover food is good enough. Some restaurants have even done this. After office hours, they give out leftover food to the needy.

Of course, some people are already into that habit. After eating at restaurants, they pack their leftover food and give this to some needy soul out in the streets. It's a noble habit.