Playing God is not fun

No sooner than we had gotten out of the car from Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse (see previous blog), then we had a mendicant artisan wanting to sell us his wares. The man claimed that he was out of propane and that he needed money for the gas for his three children. He looked sober. His stuff was pretty decent quality. None of us had any desire to spend more money on trinkets (we've done plenty of that this week) and none of us had ever met the man. Should have we given him the money? The problem is that so many people here need money and food and gas. I could easily go out and buy 200 worth of groceries and just walk around and give it to people who would need it. I really do not want to play God - deciding who is honest, whose need is greatest, whether charity today would be better spent on investments? In fact, at this point, the idea of justice seems strange to me. I do not know what Lakota culture in the 21st century should or could look like. I know that what I saw this morning as I went running - trash all along the highway - does not belong, but the more I stay here, the more I long to see change, but the more I wonder, what could and should be done?