Travel Writing - The Church and the Beggar

One of the coach trips included a guided tour of Lisbon Cathedral where its architecture was explained to the group by the very knowledgeable and proud guide.  As we entered the doorway of the Cathedral a beggar lady sat baring her scarred face and amputated leg in an iron prosthetic.  It was hard to walk by - I wanted to sit next to her and hear her story, where was she from, what had happened to her, where did she live, why was she begging?  But I guessed she was not an English speaker and I followed dutifully our coach party into the Sanctuary of this magnificent building.

Our guide pointed out the ceiling, its carvings, the pillars, the people commemorated etc etc etc and although I listened I couldn't get the beggar at the door out of my mind.

  Queueing in the midday sun to get into the museum next to the Cathedral.

 

I am Christian but I could not get my head around the expense of such a building, not only in its years of being built, but in the years since, in maintenance and upkeep.  The rich and the poor, the grand, seen by all, and the small, unnoticed individual were side by side.  The phrase 'obscene opulence' rather than praise for the Christians who furbished this place swirls around my brain.  Do they think God wants this, to be revered in gold and for men to spend their time chipping and carving away when the Gospel teachings are ignored?  It raised so many unanswered questions for me.

There were many other beggars and hawkers in Lisbon city centre.  The next day I saw her sat by a shop, she had changed location.  I wished I had not walked by yet again, but instead gone into a patisserie and bought her some food at least.  However, I have experienced the error of giving money to a mother and child begging sometime ago in another country and it was an unpleasant experience of being followed and harassed for more money.  If anyone has pointers as to how to cope with these situations please comment below.