Hi Jessica! What a wonderful essay!

What you’ve written about is very close to my heart. I grew up in a culture where we as kids were victims of all sorts of imperialism, from granny to nanny! You seldom outgrow that mindset. Men try to control us as dads, spouses, brothers. As do matriarchs.

Then there is the oppression of the other kind which you speak of, entitlement. Money buys power influence and engenders greed and ingratitude.

You’re right, it’s not for me to question motives of someone begging on the street. I cannot avert my face and drive by in a luxury car. Especially in dc where I live. Suburbia are now seeing more and more homeless. Why can amazon, Tesla man etc not build homeless shelters across America? Shameful.

In this minuscule life of ours, what gives me meaning is to see a smile or relief on random faces I come across in my journey though days filled with violence, cruelty and pain. If a random act of mine can bring a moment of surcease from suffering of a random stranger, then I have lived in grace.

For no man is an island…

Thank you for a timely reminder.

Bless you. ❤️