I was just reading on the news about wage abuse in China. For some reason the fast food chains think it is perfectly reasonable to pay their employees way below the minimum wage to work part time in their companies. McDonald's for example pays the student workers 4 yuan ($0.52) per hour. The minimum wage for Guangdong province is 7.5 yuan per hour ($0.95). Even though this is still extremely low, McDonald's pays 40% less than that minimum wage. I couldn't help thinking of some over sized executive sitting in a plush chair in his office deciding what kind of wage to give to the poor starving workers in China. As I read the article my pulse started beating fast with indignation.
I started thinking about all of the students and workers in China who are suffering from injustice, and I realized that this problem is not only in China but around the world. What about those people who have never had warm clothes or the feeling of a full stomach? Will they ever understand what it is like to be comfortable? Does anyone care that these people are suffering? As soon as I thought that, I knew the answer: God cares. He sees when injustuce happens, He hears the cry of His children that are hungry, that are suffering, that are needy. He cares. He has a special reward for those who have suffered so much in this world. Thankfully this world's long history of unfairness will very soon be over, and Jesus will soon come in the clouds to take His suffering children home to a beautiful kingdom prepared for them!
8 comments:
Amen, Tee! It's amazing how unjust and, in many cases, cruel humans can be to each other. Over and over again, in the Bible, God warns us to take care of the orphans, widows and the poor and to judge rightly. Speaking through Daniel, He said to Nebuchadnezzar, "break away now from your sins by doing righteousness and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor..." I am so thankful that God can be trusted as fair and full of mercy and love! That makes the promise of eternal life with Him powerfully good news!
I fully agree with both of you. This world is an unjust world. As for now, we surely need to help those in need. Reading this makes me long for heaven though - when everything will be JUST!
Well said.
Yes, God Cares--and so should we. When the rubber meets the road, our eternal destiny is determined by our treatment of the poor and helpless--see Matt. 25: 31-46. How can we be guiltless if we live in luxury while our brothers and sisters are starving?
the sad story is that us living in a consumer society to a large degree have become "dependent" upon buying things at a low price - which necessitates a low production cost. one way i believe we can help the needy is to buy fair-trade products and not buy all those things that we really don't need.
btw - paul: i really admire what you and petra have requested as "gifts" for your wedding!!!
I don't like the fat and nasty executives either. However, the following should be kept in mind:
1) 1 dollar can buy far more in China than in the US
2)An unfair McDonalds job is 100% better than no job.
I hate injustice. I love China.
Will I fight to raise living standards in China (reasonable goal) or try to insure that Chinese people live like Americans (not possible)?
I agree 100% with the spiritual side of such injustice! We must commite to making a difference
Way to go Tee!!! I finally got Blogspot so I can comment! I remember when you were writting this!! You were so on fire!! and really heated up ;-)
BTW my spot is www.reflecionsofpeace.blogspot.com
Check it out and leave me a comment!! And Amen to the fact that all of this suffering is soon to be over!!
In this country we can buy cheap fast food and other things (WalMart) just because the workers are slaving along at minimum wages, and they don't get any benefits such as health care insurance.
Over 40 million people have no such insurance.
USA is the richest country in the world, but has the worst healthcare system.
Farf
No matter how much we try, and no matter what we do, we can never be completely fair. Humans have a vague concept of what justice ought to be, but whenever we attempt to practice it, we fail miserably. I'm so thankful for a God who is just and fair and who sees beyond what we can see.
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