Independence ?

We had an interesting sermon yesterday in church.  The vicar based it on something she had heard someone in the congregation say to a visitor, that the people in this parish were very 'independent'.

I missed half the sermon because my mind drifted onto other things loosely based around people being 'independent'.    We have a lot of rather elderly and frail people in this parish who need help with lifts for shopping, doctors visits and so on, because they no longer drive.    Probably most rural villages are the same.  Many people are available to give lifts, and its no bother to pick up shopping or prescriptions if the person themselves doesn't want to go to town.   Its just necessary for the person to ask; ... "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find" !!   But asking is the hardest thing ... 

So how about the teenagers living on the streets in the shanty town ?  They are leading independent lives of necessity; many will have no families, homes or employment; they are living on their wits.  These teenagers have had a sort of rough independence thrust upon them.    And who is there that they can ask for food, a safe place to sleep, the chance of a job ... and ultimately self-respect ?  HATW has seen a necessity for a workshop for these teenagers and young people in Kisumu, but throughout the so called developing world this is a drop in the ocean.   I am once again reminded of the story of the boy throwing back the star-fish into the sea.


Maybe independence for those who don't have it forced upon them is not such a good thing.  We lead comfortable lives in the UK; we don't actually NEED to be so independent.   Inter-dependence seems much better !   It makes for more friendly communities if people share what they have, if they can live 'together' lives.    But what IS the answer for the millions of shanty town dwellers ... the people in Pakistan today coping with floods of Biblical proportions ... the huge colonies all around the world of refugees ?

I just have no idea ...