LOST DREAMS

I didn't sleep well last night.

Early in the evening, Amy and I attended an "Optimists Club" banquet honoring "youth", of which Lisa was one. The event featured banquet food . I think we've eaten the circuit now, pork diguised as steak, hamburger disguised as filet mignon, and chicken that no one could disguise despite their best efforts. The banquet was composed of a procession of kids who were each told at the last minute they would be "reading the honors" for the next kid on the list. There were 80 honorees, although about half didn't show up (they are the best and brightest after all). It was a long and less than enlightening occasion.

I spent much of the early part of the night thinking about the sacrifice we were making, giving up our evening for a banquet where kids were given plaques that really have little value.

I spent much of the next few hours thinking about true sacrifice.

"We would go to Mexico and Mama she would cry for the things we'll never know she had to leave behind"

Those are lyrics from a Tish Hinojosa song which rattled through my head last night as I tried to get some sleep and put my cynicism in perspective.

Yesterday morning I got word from Victoria, Texas that 18 illegal aliens had died stuffed in a locked tractor trailer in the sweltering South Texas heat. These were men, women, and at least one small child, who paid a fortune by their standards for a chance to come into this country seeking work...hard work. Back bending, thankless, and for the most part, low paying work. They embarked on that journey knowing their hopes and dreams could cost them their lives.

I couldn't help but wonder how they would feel if they were invited to a banquet where their kids were given plaques for excelling in school. I bet they wouldn't complain about the food.


PSALM 49:20
A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish.