Domestic Staffers vs. Dogs

I read the following transcript from "Authentic Faith" by Gary Thomas and this really makes you think about your life and priorities. This is by no means a political statement so please do not take it that way. This is in fact a personal statement for everyone, including myself, calling us to continually evaluate our priorities in how we spend our time, money, and love.

If you walk through the wealthier sections of Los Angeles, two things mark the prosperity: dogs and domestics. Rosa Diaz came to the United States from El Salvador, at the time I write this, less than a year ago. As a housekeeper, Rosa is struggling with her humble situation. "It's still very strange that I;m doing a job like this," the well-educated young woman told reporter Doug Saunders. "I once thought that I would end up having a domestic worker, but now I am one."

In addition to following Rosa the domestic, Doug also followed Custer, a Los Angeles dog owned by a sucessful Hollywood screenwriter. The comparisons are astonishing.

Rosa's salary is such that she can afford just $50 a week toward rent, so she shars a small two-bedroom apartment with three adult women. Custer was staying at Canyon View Ranch, "a canine spa, boarding retreat and training center that advertises itself as a 'country club for dogs'." This pet luxury comes at a steep price: Custer's owners pay $70/day or $490 a week for the privilege-almost ten times the cost of what Rosa pays for her lodgings. Custer's owners explains, "It cost a little more, but it menas that when we go away we can truly have a vacation without guilt. Just ask the dogs-you can tell how excited they are when they come here."

Rosa get $225 a week to work from dawn until late evening. Some domestics get paid more, of course. A few do get $450 or even $500, but Rosa also knows of some who start out at $80 to $100. Compare this to your average dob walker in Los Angeles, who is typically paid about $200 a week.

Rosa's tight salary allows her to spend about $50 a week on groceries. Custer eats pretty well. Though the "standard" Canyon View Ranch meal contains lamb and rice, most owners leave special instructions. A Canyon View worker explains: "We get every kind of special food request you can imagine, and then some. We get vegetarian diets, and raw foods, and we get up to six supplements at a time that have to be crushed and mixed up and blended. And some people want the food heated up." Several owners also ask for "dog gravy" to be poured over the top of the dog's dinner.

Custer's owner explains, "The joy of golden retrievers is their wonderful personalities, but the downside is that they are known for their sensitive stomachs. We have Custer on a special diet and it costs us a pretty penny."

Custer is treated to a monthly $40 shampoo; Rosa makes do with a bottle purchased at a drugstore. Los Angeles dog owners typically pay $100 a month in vet fees, even for healthy dogs. Rosa's salary doesn't include any insurance, medical, or dental coverage. Custer gets to ride in a car or limo; Rosa rides to work on the city bus. Saunders ends his article with a report of the Los Angeles Times coverage of the trial of a California man charged with killing a woman's small white dog in an act of road rage. In the aftermath local residents were furious, and they raised $175,000 to find the dog's killer. This unleashed several weeks' wourth of front page stories on animal abuse.

The day before this story broke, Saunders notes, the Human Right Watch released a report of their own, challenging the "widespread physical abuse and economic mistreatment of thousands of domestic workers in diplomatic households." Not a single Los Angeles paper chose to carry it.

We certainly need to care for animals and creation, afterall God made man the caretakers of his creation. However, AS INDIVIDUALS (including me) we need to show love and kindness to those who are less fortunate than ourselves. Many are discouraged because the problems seem so big and one person just can't fix the problem so we do nothing. I recently viewed a sermon from Andy Stanley at Northpoint Community Church in Georgia in which he says, "Do for one what you want to do for everyone." I love that line! No single person can solve any one problem but we can be a part of the solution. We can only do so much but I will finish by saying:

Do for one (or two, ten, 100, 1000....) what you want to do for everyone.

Grace

My church, newhope, in Durham, NC is currently in a series called, "The Grace of God." It sounds simple, and in many ways it is, but it isn't. About a month ago I was sitting in my office with a struggling customer. Lets call this person Jordon (for gender neutrality purposes). Jordon was in my office essentially asking us for more grace. To put it bluntly, we were already bent over backwords with our head by our feet. We had very little to no room for more grace. It was at this time that the following thought occured to me:

God has offered you grace time and again without you doing anything to earn it.

I didn't share this with Jordon but it struck a cord. As a Christian we are called to, not only live for Jesus in church and on mission projects, but in all parts of life from work to play. How does the concept of grace apply to me, in an industry built on payment due dates and credit? I know a couple things:

1) I need to incorporate grace into all areas of life, including work.

2) At work I represent a business, and in this business sometimes you simply need the payment.

In order to come to an answer to how to balence the need to follow Jesus while supporting business I can only turn to the bible.

The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. Instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish.

1st Peter 3:9

Obviously, this is primarily refering to the ultimate salvation for you and for me. God wants to extend His grace to you through faith, made possible through the death of Jesus on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. I believe this verse can be extended to apply to us in finance. God is willing to wait and be patient with us to see and hear His message, so I should be willing to wait and be patient with customers such as Jordon, because I should not desire for anyone to lose their vehicle bacause of lack of payment.

According to this last passage we should continue to be patient and let people pay at their own convenience no matter what, because after all God has given us a LONG time to hear His message and to be saved. The bible says, in many places, that God will judge the world.

When the Son of Man caome in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on the throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people from one another as a shepherd separates the sheep and the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.......He will reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these you did not do for me. Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

Matthew 25: 31-33, 45-46

God will eventually judge the world and, despite not wanting this, many will perish. In business, particularly finance, grace can be given, but eventually we need a payment. We cannot sustain a business without enforcing the contract. I make every effort to help people, and I should never desire a customer be repossessed because my customers are indeed people with needs and lives of their own. Eventually, just like God will not be able to wait any longer to judge the world, in business we need to make often hard decisions in order to sustain the business. God is concerned about our eternal destinations, so He can, and has, given us years, decades, centuries, and milliniums to come to faith.

This same concept can be applied to the finance world, just on a very abbreviated timeline. The consequences must happen eventually, hopefully, even when consequences must be carried out I can do it with caring and love, as to not hurt the kingdom of God, and the person's eternal home by representing Christ poorly.

P.S. We were able to work with Jordon, and this person is doing just fine.