Ethiopia journal entry #5

I was reminded of this last Ethiopia journal entry last night when I was talking to a friend who was a missionary in Argentina for 30 years. I was talking to her about the subject of what I'd written in my journal and how I intended to post it on the blog. She said something so simple, it seemed like it couldn't possibly be true, but now that I've been thinking about it for 24 hours, I think it's more true than any of us would care to admit.

She said, "The more people have, the less happy they are. And the less people have, the more happy they are."

I guess that would explain why, as a general rule, people in Ethiopia are happier than people in America.

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From the Guest House:

9/18/09

I've been thinking a lot about the luxury of worry. Here in the third world we don't wear seat belts. In fact, people sometimes pay as much as they can afford just to get a ride hanging on to the outside of the taxi. They don't have the luxury to worry about what is safe. No safety harnesses. No hand sanitizer. No rear-facing carseats or traffic police to ticket you for going five over.

God has blessed us so much we have the time and money to worry about ever last little thing.

Not that this is all bad, but what if we had a fear of God like we have a fear of salmonella?