I haven’t blogged for a long time. There are many and varied reasons but I just can’t seem to follow through with any one story. I have a myriad of blogs with two or three paragraphs but they are totally unfinished thoughts. I do know why. Much of my personal attention has been drawn to the presidential race, the elections and the state of our nation now. I still don’t know how much I want to write about it but years ago I wrote an article that was printed that is as true today as it was then. Then my grandson was about eight. Today he is 29 years old. Nothing has changed regarding the relevance of this story. The problem is indeed worse not better. This is a sad testimony to our nation. Something is terribly wrong! I hope the story below gives you pause and an opportunity to contemplate its truths.
BEWARE OF THE FREE LUNCH!
Recently I pulled my hardbound copy of “The Eagle Story” from my shelf to share with my grandson. It is a beautiful book filled with drawings of this majestic bird and it tells the reader how perceptive the eagle is and how he cherishes his family and his freedom.
It also tells how cunning men are able to trap this elusive bird. Of course, eagles are protected birds and can only be trapped for zoos or government approved reasons. However, they can be trapped!
Eagles love fish and in the story the clever trapper lays fish out on a rock near the water’s edge where the eagle normally fishes for food. He was leery of the fish just lying on the rock but after perching high in a tree and carefully checking everything out and after waiting for hours for something unusual to happen, the eagle soared down coming closer and closer until he finally landed on the rock with the fish. Everything still looked very peaceful and in good order so, after many wary moments, he settled down to eat his ‘free lunch.’
This scenario went on for days with only mild changes in the landscape happening at any one time. Finally the trapper knew that the eagle was enjoying his ‘free lunch’ and it was time to set the trap. He put a big net high above the rock the eagle always sat on while eating. His hope was to get the eagle used to the net being there.
The eagle was really suspicious of that net! So much so that he did not bother with the free lunch the next day. However, he did come back the following day, and the net hadn’t been moved at all. Most importantly the fish was there and it was free. The eagle didn’t have to hunt or work for the meal. So down he flew and again had a ‘free lunch.’ The strange net overhead appeared to be no problem. The trap was perfect! The following day the eagle flew in without hesitation and settled down to eat when suddenly the net came down around the eagle. He fought and fought but could not break free. He would never be free again. He was going to a zoo where he’d never fly high and soar through the sky again. He was trapped. The ‘free lunch’ had run out! Now he would pay dearly for everything given to him. He would pay with his freedom. His hopes and plans of soaring gracefully along the currents, enjoying his family and his world were now dashed to bits. A sad ending indeed for this strong, proud, and beautiful bird.
I sat and thought about the book I had just shared with my grandson and I realized that welfare is exactly like the eagle story.
It’s a big net that has been set to trap its recipients and make them beholden to a zookeeper for food and shelter. No wonder some of the government projects look like prisons. They are! They imprison the mind and emotions, the heart and spirit of the people. It fosters weakness and strips them of their hope for a better life. Life remains unchanged for those caught up in this cycle. They can never fly free or meet their real potential.
What a disgrace that we have allowed a system like this to exist in America and it happened because many believe big government knows more about what is best for the people than the people do themselves and they have no qualms using the poor for their personal gain.
I used to wonder why nothing every changed but now I know it is because they wished to keep them trapped in the existing system for their vote. Well, there is no ‘free lunch,’ and these captives pay a terrible price to remain in high crime, low income housing with all hopes and dreams dashed to pieces.
There is no doubt it is time for real change. Phony, crippling “compassion” is very misguiding and many good people are caught up in believing it is the only way. They mistake compassion for enabling the destruction of the human spirit. We need to do better than that. The answer is the same as it has always been, give them a hand up, not a hand out!
THE END!
An old Chinese Buddhist saying.
“Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day; teach a man to fish, and he'll feed himself for the rest of his life.”
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