A rich father, wanting his son to know what it means to be poor, made him spend a day with a peasant family
The boy spent 3 days and 3 nights in the fields.
Back in the city, still in the car, his father asked him:
- What about your experience?
- Well - replied the boy....
Have you learned anything? The father insisted
1. That we have a dog and they have four.
2. That we have a swimming pool with treated water, which reaches the end of the garden. They have a river, with crystal clear water, fish and other beautiful things.
3. That we have electric light in our garden but they have the stars and the moon to illuminate them.
4. That our garden reaches up to the wall. Theirs, to the horizon.
5. That we buy our own food; they grow it, harvest it and cook it.
6. That we listen to CDs... They listen to a continuous symphony of parrots, crickets and other animals...
... all this, sometimes accompanied by the song of a neighbor who works the land.
7. That we use the microwave. What they cook tastes like slow fire
8. That we, to protect ourselves, live surrounded by fences with alarms... They live with open doors, protected by the friendship of their neighbours.
9. That we live connected to cell phones, computers, television. They are connected to life, sky, sun, water, fields, animals, their shadows and their families.
The father is very impressed by his son's feelings. Eventually the son concludes
- Thank you for teaching me how poor we are!
Every day, we become poorer and poorer because we no longer observe nature, which is God's great work.