This was part of the homily during today’s Morning Prayer at the Washington National Cathedral. If you don’t want to watch it you can read it here.
A woman is at a market where a poor man is selling eggs. She asked him, “How much are the eggs?”
The old seller replied, “$.50 an egg, Madam.”
She said to him, “I will take 6 eggs for $2.50 or I am leaving.
The old seller replied, “Buy them at the price you want. This is a good start for me because I have not been able to sell even a single egg today, and I need this to live.”
She bought her eggs and walked away feeling she had won. She got into her fancy car and went to a fancy restaurant with her friend. She and her friend ordered whatever they wanted. They ate a little and left a lot of what they ordered. The bill came to $150.00. She gave $200.00 and told the owner to keep the change.
This might seem quite normal to the restaurant owner, but very unfair to the egg seller.
The question it raises is this. Why do we need to show that we have power when we buy from the needy, and why are we so generous to those that don’t need our generosity?
I once read this somewhere; a father would buy goods from poor people at high prices, even though he didn’t need them. Sometimes he paid extra for them. His son was amazed and asked him, “Why are you doing this, Dad?”
His father replied, “It’s charity wrapped in dignity, Son.”
Stay healthy and safe.
Song of the Day
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