What To Do About the Poor?

Do we care about the poor?  Will money rid us of poverty?  Can we improve the social conditions of people?  Should the rich give?  How do we measure the success of charity?

So, Warren Buffet's son, Peter, wrote this.

I say this,

Jesus said that we would ALWAYS have the poor with us...so we will never get rid of poverty...EVER.  But, Jesus also gave us two great commandments, to love God with all of ourselves and to love others as ourselves. 

So, to me the real key isn't money, but LOVE - which is exactly what people are about.  You know the educational system will have everyone believe that all people getting a college education is the key,  not true.  You and I both know that we enjoy the guy picking up our garbage.  We want him to like his job and know we value him, but we know that he doesn't need a college education to pick up our garbage. 

Some people are leaders, some followers.  Some people are rich, some poor.  Some people are pretty, some ugly.  But, the key isn't measuring success with money, but with love and reaching out.  So, if we are using our money to do that, good for us...but mostly we need to use the one resource we all have...time.  I don't think you can love people with just money.  You can't solve a problem, change a life with only money. 

Research has proven that if you give a poor man money, the quality of his life doesn't improve.  Have you ever wondered why people that win the lottery say it was the worse thing to happen to them? 

Money by itself, a check carefully written, a dollar given does not change lives without love and time.  Giving a poor man money and not teaching him how to spend it, not teaching him about the path to contentment, not teaching him about the greatest love, leaves him empty...and it always will.

Jane Addams said, "What after all has maintained the human race on this old globe despite all the calamities of nature and all the tragic failings of mankind, if not faith in new possibilities and courage to advocate them."

The Bag I Carry

See this?  See this bag?
Filled with things...your sharp words like graying lumps of rock...little, bright shreds of my soul scattered among them.  But do you know what you do not see?  The tears I never cried.  They are absent from this bag I carry.

Uncried tears formed together, crystallized into rock like diamonds...growing me...pushing through me...in spite of you.

See this bag?  See this bag I carry?

A tisket, a tasket, your imagination in a basket

She says, "Why do I have to go outside?  I'm bored."

And I can't help but remember saying the same thing to my own mom and then begging her to play with me...and when she didn't...I went on and used my own imagination and was delighted in the inspiration of play...

So, she went out...and got baby brother...and they got a basket...and made a salad...

Then, came the swing, the rope, and the tree...

and it was a hit...and life is good...and I am thankful for imagination and the beauty of discovery and just how empowering it is.