Caring More for Shade

Do you know the story of Jonah? From the Bible? Jonah warned a city full of bad people that if they didn't get it together and change their ways they would be destroyed. They did change, and God showed mercy. Jonah didn't think they deserved it though. He sat and waited to watch the city burn, and he got hot. He complained with depth of feeling about how hot he was and how the shade tree God had made to cool him off had withered, thus failing to serve its purpose. God pointed out to Jonah that he was way more bothered at the prospect of losing his shade than that of an entire city of fellow human beings being put to death.

Today is World Day Against Child Labor. While researching it enough to ease my conscience and post some websites to Facebook as a concerned world citizen, I realized that one of my earrings was missing. One half of my favorite pair:

 

I told myself it didn't matter. I told myself to think of the children in forced labor around the world. But it remained in the back of my mind.

 

Favorite earrings vs. empathy for suffering. I think earrings won.

 

 I found the earring later on the floor. But not until I had been out running around with no earrings on, which is a big deal for someone with no hair trying to look feminine. This sounds incredibly stupid now that I'm writing it, but it just goes to show how easy it is to care about the wrong things. The trivial things. The self-centered things.

 

I need to allow the needs of others to matter more and stir my thoughts and guts more than a lost accessory. Sounds trite, but it's so simple that it signifies a great truth.

 

I know I sound pretty hard on myself, but this matters. I'm not going to sit in guilt, but I am going to do what I can: I will try, as I've tried before and failed to maintain, to check the origin of products I buy to make sure I'm not contributing to abusive labor practices. And I will practice feeling. I will practice empathy. I will notice my reactions.