Dear Editor: I am so delighted that Western Friend
published the 2017 IMYM keynote talk on finances (September/October 2017). Financial management is a spiritual practice, at least as taught by my teacher, Jesus of Nazareth. Citizens of the United States are profligate wasters of world resources. One of the reasons for this is rank ignorance.
Friend Pamela queries the right to a refrigerator. Does every household in the world have that right? Then there is the question of need. When I first came to Honduras, I found out that much of what I had thought of as need was actually convenience. As I gradually learned what every rural Honduran considers common knowledge, I shrugged off at least a little of the rank ignorance that was my tradition as a middle class “American.”
Here eggs are stored safely at tropical room temperature, as are fruits, vegetables and mantequilla crema (butter cream). Cooked beans, soup (even meat based soup), and milk are boiled twice a day to keep them from going bad. You will notice that I mentioned only two luxury foods, butter cream and meat. If you want a lot of luxury foods, a refrigerator is a very handy thing to have. We, 90% of the world population, do not ask ourselves about having a refrigerator; it is out of the question.
If anyone would like more information about living without a refrigerator (and, in fact, without electricity) I would be happy to respond to questions.
– Hermana Alegría, Limon, Honduras