LITERATURE
The Fall
Copyright © 2014 Timothy S. Klugh. All Rights Reserved.
I got an inspiration last night. If someone, anyone, would employ me today, it could stop this catastrophe from happening. Perhaps the inspiration was a prompting from God, but it seemed to come a little late. I went with it though. I went to two people (who owned their own businesses) to see if they would hire me, for anything, just until I get a career job back. I was desperate, but I tried. I would have worked for next to nothing. You see, today is the last day that my house can be saved by me having a job, but I have to be hired today. In desperate humility, I ask those two people for help. "I'll work for peanuts." "I'll do whatever chore you need done." I was declined by both, and the reasons were they were not hiring. "Business" won over "Humanity", as is the norm. "Business"... "Business"... "Business"... People will save a dog needing shelter, people will take in a stray cat. Their fellow mankind, not if it risks the bottom line.
It is "Business" that is taking my home. It is "Business" that is keeping me from saving it. I must be from another planet because I have never held "Business" in a regard where it sacrifices "Humanity". Long ago, I was inspired by Charles Dickens' line from his immortal short story "A Christmas Carol" when the ghost of Jacob Marley tries to warn Ebenezer Scrooge about the error in his logic of what was truly his business. I was so inspired that I strove to live by that quote, and I printed it on paper at one point, framed it, and put it where I could see it every day. It read:
"Business!
Mankind was my business.
The common welfare was my business;
charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business.
The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water
in the comprehensive ocean of my business!"
When my wife and I were also in a terrible financial state last year. At a time when we were already starving, or at least losing weight fast, we discovered that one of our friends had been kicked-out of her parents' home, and she was living in an old pickup truck that did not even have a driver's window. My wife and I walked in on a conversation where two of her other friends were discussing her problem but neither were willing to sacrifice to help her. It did not matter that my family and I were already struggling... this girl had no home. It was not even a decision for me to make. I knew God wanted my family to rescue her, so we did, right at that moment, no hesitation. That girl is now my daughter and I look after her as part of my family. My family was even warned by certain leaders that it was not the best idea to bring a single girl (who was in her mid-twenties) into our home. Was I presumed weak... easy to fall to temptation? Would I take this girl in and then try to take advantage of her? Geez, it surprises me how weak people think I am! I protected this girl and I treated her as if she were an adopted child (or older child.) This girl's parents had rejected her and she needed a good home. She has turned from a silent, withdrawn girl to a vibrant, humorous and beautiful girl who is a buddy to my wife and a sister to my son. I helped her realize her dreams and potentials. She is amazing to behold now, and I am very proud of her.
And, it's funny. Now that we are truly losing our home. One of those old friends who would not help this girl then, is willing to rescue her now... from our dying situation. I deride that so-called friend, for as long as I can find a shelter for my family and my adopted daughter, I will earnestly look after them all. You see, even while my world is collapsing, I will do the right thing. God willing that I am capable, I will always do the right thing! That is not "good business"; That is "humanity"... and it is humanity that is the purpose of all of our existences here. My rule of thumb: If business gets in the way, refuse its limitation and reach out and save those who need saving. This time it is me and my family. The next time it may be you.
The hours are winding down on this day, the last day of hope for our home. I am truly out of choices... it is all in God's hands now.
Written on 04/22/2014
“A Christmas Carol” novella by Charles Dickens first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843.
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