From 21 to 68

It was two years ago that I read Lee Jia Tong's Page 21. Since then, it has been a long wait for his next book. Finally, I grabbed a copy last week, from Page 21, it's now 68, story 68.

From The Baker in Page 21 to The Daily Bread in Story 68, the stories related by Lee Jia Tong is still that touching, heartwarming and engaging.

How often do we refuse the "beggars" asking for money while sitting in the coffee shop? How often do we find it irritating to see stretching hands in front of us? How often do we really gratefully open our wallet and give cheerfully to those outstretched hands? How often do we doubt whether those asking eyes are sincere and true? How often do we turn them away because we think we would be taken advantage of?

I don't know about you. But, sometimes, I get irritated. Sometimes, I doubt. Sometimes, I just want to give the money and send them away as soon as possible. Sometimes, I doubt whether they are actually "rich", but just want me to part with my money...

Most of times, I do have a passionate heart, though. But, that's really not enough!

Lee Jia Tong wrote that we all have a compassionate heart. We think that money is most needed by the poor. But in reality, it's the "respect" that they lack most. He said, "We could starve for a day to experience the hunger. But, few will want to experience a day in a beggar's life. It is because we can't stand the feelings of being despised and humiliated by others."

"Story 68" is numbered as "68" because it took a beggar to ask for 68 times before he was given some money by a kind soul. A friend of Lee noted as he overlooked from his hotel room one day in a foreign land. And it changed his friend's life. He was never the same. He began his volunteer works in the camps for the unfortunate with servant's hands and compassionate heart and treat them with due respect.

Caring for the needy isn't really just seasonal bursts of compassion, in which we give a meal to a homeless person on Thanksgiving, or gather up gifts for needy children at Christmas, or make other minimal responses, serving at our convenience in selective ways. It is genuinely setting aside our rights for another.

And it's not easy! You might not be appreciated. The people that you extend yourself for might take advantage of you. You may never receive a word of thanks. Perhaps no one will notice.

I am pondering on this statement - I am glad to be called a servant. I just don't want to be treated like one.