Poor? It's All Perspective

Sorry. It's been a while since I've taken the time to post. A lot has been happening, and there is a lot I'd like to share, but rather than do a core dump (as we in the computer industry say) and unload everything on you at one time, I'll ease back in.

I was reminded today of an incident that happened when I was growing up. As a child I lived in a rather rural county in Georgia. Most everyone I knew had basically the same socio-economic status, and the concept of being rich or poor was still foreign to me. I had a home and never lacked for any essentials.

One spring afternoon some neighborhood friends were over playing badmitton with me in the back yard. Close to 6:00 my mom opened the door to tell me that supper was ready. I got very excited because I knew she'd prepared one of my favorite dishes. As my friends started to leave to go to their own homes for supper, one of them asked me what we were having. "Beanee Weenee's!" I replied.

There was that uncomfortable silence. Then he looked me square in the eyes and said "just how poor are ya'll?"

The older I got, the more I understood the difference between the have's and have nots, but was still often reminded that being poor is often a frame of mind as much as it is an economic condition.

Matthew 6:25 - 33
25 "For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 "Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27 "And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? 28 "And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30 "But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! 31 "Do not worry then, saying, `What will we eat?' or `What will we drink?' or `What will we wear for clothing?' 32 "For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Later...

Big D