I've been reading a mystery novel based on a real-life turn of the century crime in the Little Italy section of New York City in which a man was brutally murdered and stuffed into a barrel. The author described the tenements of that era in such detail that I decided to Google it and came across a photo of Mulberry Street. It's an odd combination we don't often see today: a street teeming with life amidst the squalor of the slums. Life was hard, even brutal; the real-time demonstration of Darwin's "Survival of the Fittest."
It's not just history; millions today live in such conditions, living hard and dying young. Much of today's politically correct speech has roots in places like that. "White Privilege" is a phrase that causes conservative Caucasian Americans to cringe. We like to think we've earned what we have, and don't like being told that we've gotten where we are due to the color of our skin. In reality, it's a bit of both. I've worked hard all my life and am now reaping some of the rewards of living within our means, saving, living as honorably as I can; yet I know also that the family and community in which I was raised gave me a leg up on people who have worked just as hard, but started out with two strikes against them.
Years ago, Linda and I worked in a group home for teenage boys. During our time with them, a couple of them came to Christ. As long as they maintained their spiritual disciplines of Bible study, prayer, and worship, they did just fine. But if they neglected any of these, they were back in the pits almost instantaneously. If I neglected these disciplines (which I must confess I've done many times), I had a safety net of parental training that kept me from the same descent to which these boys were prone. The spiritual dynamics were identical; the outcomes vastly different. Yes, I've worked hard, but I've also been given much, and cannot escape Jesus' words, "To whom much is given, much is required." I am grateful for all I've received, and pray continually for grace and wisdom to live worthily of that trust.
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