I was once unemployed and having trouble finding work, a Christian millionaire offered me some work at his house; told me something was better than nothing. I agreed and went to work for him doing yard work, at the time minimum wage was $5.15 an hour. Although he had a tractor with a bucket, I was not allowed to use it for digging but did have to fill the bucket with dirt. He had a pile of dirt in the corner of his backyard he wanted moved to another corner, but I had to use a shovel. I worked all day in the sun, I had blisters on my hands as no gloves were provided nor did I bring any with me as I didnt know what I would be doing for work before I came to work. After telling me what he wanted done, he went inside the air conditioned house; I was not offered anything to drink, not even water. Nor had I brought anything to drink because I didnt know nothing would be provided, I trusted that my needs would be met. I worked through lunch, there was no place close to go get lunch, no lunch was provided, and I didnt bring any lunch because, once again, I didnt know nothing would be provided. Sometime after lunch the Christian millionaire came to check on me, he brought me a pair of used leather gloves that were a little small for my hands. He also brought me a bottle of warm water, which shortly turned to hot water in the Texas heat. Still nothing to eat, then he left me to finish my work, returning to the cool house. Once I finished my work to his satisfaction, we sat on the patio where I was offered ice cold lemonade; and we talked. He proceeded to tell me how he became a millionaire, saving money; explaining to me how he was blessed by God for going to church and living a righteous life. As I sat there listening to this man preach to me, soaked in my own sweat, looking at the busted blisters and calluses on my hands, still beet red from being on the heat and sun; I contemplated the events of the day, I had not complained once. In order to receive my compensation I had to listen to his sermon about how I could be just as wealthy as he was by going to church and tithing, I listened patiently. When he had finished his sermon and satisfied his conscience, he proceeded to pay me $3 an hour; and I left without telling him that his actions did not support his sermon. I did not tell him that he had just taken advantage of me because of his knowledge of my financial situation, I did not tell him that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter heaven, I didnt tell him that the way he became a millionaire is by taking advantage of his fellow man which is why he had money to save, nor did I point out his lack of compassion, or how his actions were hypocritical to his sermon. It was merely his belief that he was doing the right thing which supported his self righteous behavior, he had convinced himself that I was lazy and did not want to work, which was the challenge he presented that led to me working for him in the first place, in his mind he had taught me a lesson of hard labor; in actuality the lesson he taught me was that I didnt want to be like him, so then I should not attend church was the rationalization, not that I didnt want to be successful, but because I didnt want to think the way he did. He thought he was teaching me humility, yet I remained humble within his presence all day long; he was not trying to help me as much as he was trying to make a point, he judged me in self righteous indignation, he wanted to control me and manipulate the word of God in order to feel good about taking advantage of me. I did not believe in a God at this time in my life, I was not a Christian nor did I read the bible regularly; but I was raised as a Christian, I did go to church as a child, I had read the Holy Bible when I was young, and my memory was better then than it is now. He did not convince me there is a God that day, nor did he teach me about morality, nor did he convince me to attend church; in fact, I believe that I was the better Christian that day. I only had myself to blame for being taken advantage of, it didnt make me feel good about myself to allow that to happen to me, I allowed the anxiety over my situation to be greater than my judgement; I allowed it to happen to myself because I trusted this Christian man to do the right thing rather than ask questions and know what I was getting into, I allowed him to play my ego with his challenge. Now when someone offers help with a job, I have questions; not because I am looking for excuses not to do the job, but because I want to understand the job and that it entails so I can know if it will be beneficial to both my physical and spiritual survival, so that I can make sure I am not being taken advantage of in the name of proving a point. I know who I am, known me all my life; your perception of me is not who I am, just as my perception of you is not who you are, it is merely observation based upon the understanding of the thoughts you process.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 19:00:59 +0000
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