Hockey Night in Lebanon

(Best to read the blog on the team and then come back to this blog.)

http://crclebanonteam.blogspot.com/2009/09/great-day-in-beka.html

So this family mentioned in the blog, ( yes, you must read the blog so go do it!) has a young boy that was wearing a Montreal Canadians shirt and shorts. Over the conversations that were taking place I caught his eye from across the room and pointed to my shirt and his shirt and smiled and attempted a weak gesture to see if he knew what that meant. He ran out the door. D’oh! I scared another one!

About 5 minutes later and a little more tea, I see the boy re-enter the house. This time I ask the interpreter to ask the boy if he knew what that name meant on his shirt. He started to head for the door again but this time all eyes and ears were centred on him and he had nowhere to go, his brothers and sisters had blocked the door.

So I asked him if he would like to know and if he did, then come and sit in front of me so I could tell him. He did. So for the next few minutes, all attention was on him and me as we spoke together through the interpreter. I asked his name. He gave it, I pronounced it wrong, he laughed, everyone laughed, I finally got it right. Then I started to explain ice, and skates, and a stick. The puck was hard to describe. So I went with a round ball, squished flat on opposite sides. Everyone laughed. I was serious! No one had a better way to explain it so I eventually won through the interpreter. So once I explained it in brief, I talked about it as a team game and there are 6 professional teams in Canada. (He knew we were from Canada.) I then told him about the Canadians, the Maple Leafs, the Senators. Then I said that the best team was the Flames. I got a few groans on that in the background. Then I talked about the Oilers and the background noise seams to improve. Sheesh! I forgot to check that factor before I signed up for this team!

So the conversation ended a short while after that. I’m thinking now that he probably wondering what we did with the puck, how big the ice surface was, what’s a professional team, and who the heck is Tim Horton.

After a visit outside, the man of the house startles us and invites us to a feast. He is willing to kill a lamb and prepare a large meal for us tonight. This is a great honor. The cost of a lamb for him would be very high. Their whole family may eat meat only once or twice a month. I’m not sure of the exact cost, but I’m reasonably sure that the cost of such meal for them would be greater than a month’s salary. It would significantly impact their yearly cash flow plan.

Would I give away a month’s salary to a stranger that knocked on my door and asked to visit me? I’m immediately put out if a couple of Mormons drop by. Or a couple of JWs. Do I show this kind of honor to those that cross my path? No. . . . Usually it’s an inconvenience to my current plans. Yet that’s all he was doing. Showing honor to me and my friends. Then one of his wives grabs Kathleen and wants to give her a dress. They are totally giving people, of possessions that I’m sure they cannot afford to part with. They are giving away out of their own needs supply.

When was the last time I gave out of my resources that were to meet my basic needs? . . . . Perhaps somewhere in the distant past, . . .maybe. I know that I regularly give my tithe and then sacrificed extra dollars over and above that tithe on a few occasions. But that’s not the same as taking a hit on the core resources that I`ve built up to meet my family`s basic needs in life. I’m not sure what that looks like for me.

I’ll have to do some serious thinking about that over the next few days.

jp