Jesus: “Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.”
Obviously there is an issue of discernment involved but at the end of the day my job is to help those in need if I can. If I am unsure of what they will do with the money that is fine. I don’t have to be sure to listen to Jesus and help someone who claims to need it.
I can’t control what they do. I can only control what I do with my money (greedily horde it or share it with someone who says they have need).
42 For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. 43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’ 44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’ 45 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’ 46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
wise words Richard…i like the inferences from the life of Christ that you suggest there and they are very appropriate under the circumstances.
Your comment reminds me of the statement “take up your cross and follow Me”. I think that we have tended to take this to mean put a crown of thorns on our heads, whip ourselves until we bleed and walk the walk of shame to Calvery. However, in light of your comment and in retrospect, i wonder if what Christ mean was, follow his model…heal the sick, help those who are in need, witness the love of God to them? (I’m not good at the last part)
Vinnie thank you for your comment and insight. The bible quote is particularly inspiring and im glad for your choice of texts there. I had forgotten all about that bible verse…its an absolute cracker.
This might be the very answer im seeking actually…its also a text that i have used to claim that i believe that there will be atheists in heaven…because even an atheist can heal the sick and help those in need and in doing so, models the very essence of what Christ Himself demonstrated in His life and parables (such as the story of the Good Samaritan)
PS i would just like to highlight that what im reading here is this forum at its best…im so grateful to be a member of this group and this is inspiring stuff for me.
Rule by majority tends to serve the majority. I.e. people fall through through the cracks. It reminds me of my discussion in the other thread about an infinite universe and my argument that this does not mean we are repeated. Why? Because time is that first order of infinity and people are a higher order of infinity, which means as Jesus said “we will always have the poor.” People will always fall through the cracks. So helping them is not about attempting some permanent solution but about defining who we are as people who care. And so the same Jesus who effectively denied that there is any solution also tells us to do what we can. and… of course, it is about who we really are and not about who people think we are… so Jesus criticizes those who make a show of it.
I’ve gotten to the point in the last few years where I no longer give money to strangers. If someone is hungry I may get them some food. Not at an intersection. But if I see them out and about. My taxes lays for some stuff, money I give to my church in part goes to locals and I routinely donate food to food drops. People who work with me often get free food. There are some people struggling check by check who also like to hike and are part of local groups and I’ll pick them for free and take them to parks and pay for it. I always bring food to eat when headed out.
If you feel like god is sending you then do it though. I’ve been inspired at times, like when I was in Texas and it was fall and I went and spent $250 on fresh tomatoes, garlic, garlic bread, spaghetti, veggie Italian sausage and so on and brought it to a local park and brought ice and tea. Ended up sharing about half of it. Many just think it’s odd and ignore it. The rest was leftovers and other soldiers since I was in the army at that time.
Definitely. I’ve always been on a very tight budget. Family growing up was fairly strict, and as an adult I’m even more strict.
Often my dinner is just mushrooms, sweet potatoes, rice and chickpeas with yellow curry paste. I use 1/2 a cup of soy milk too with it. Though in this one I added shredded broccoli.
I know people who spend $12-15 on fast food at lunch everyday. They have Netflix, Hulu, max, Disney and Amazon. They pay for YouTube plus and some music app.
I have Netflix and shudder. Next month, or the month after I’ll cancel Netflix and get Hulu. Then another month or two later I’ll get Max. Sometimes all I keep is shudder and use tubi and YouTube for free. I get 10 audiobooks a month for free through my public library.
My lunch is often an apple, an orange, banana and 2-3 dates.
Tomorrow my breakfast is oatmeal pancakes. It’s a cup of extra thick rolled oaks I’ll boil, then I’ll add a banana and a teaspoon of baking soda and a cap of vanilla extract. I’ll cook a potato and half an onion as a side.
I turn on my heat when my room gets below 50. I have no central ac and so in winter I have two space heaters. My electric bill including my internet and water was $118 last month. I meet people making twice as much and they are always struggling with “basic bills”. Then I find out they have like 500mpbs internet, ten streaming services, keep the AC running all day even when they are at work. Constantly spending $750 a week on groceries for 4. Granted I’m by myself but my groceries are often $60-80 a week. Sometimes even less. Monday through Thursday this week my breakfast is a slice of green tomato, a slice of potato and a few mushrooms cooked in liquid smoke on a biscuit. My lunch is PBJ sandwich with a banana. At break one day I’ll have a sliced apple and a handful of pecans and the next day I’ll have raw carrot slices and broccoli florets that I dip in a dressing that’s made of 2 strawberries, a teaspoon of rice vinegar and a tablespoon of soy milk blended together. I make 1-2 cups of unsweetened tea in the evening and my coffee is 1 cup with a tablespoon of dried coffee mixed with 4 ounces of hot water and 4 ounces of soy milk with a cap of vanilla extract.
I feel so many have gotten so lazy they just want everything heavily processed, frozen for the microwave and instant.
I do but at the moment I don’t have one. I use to garden a lot. I’ll probably garden again in the future. I really like Baker Creek Heirloom seeds for gardening. For years I had a roaring 1/4 acre garden with trellis
For beans and squash. I’m pretty big into foraging. Late spring through early winter I’ll eat about 10lbs of mushrooms a week that are all found from the woods. I’m still eating 1-3 cups of farkleberries a week. Though it’s coming close to an end for its season. In summer collect several pounds of wild grapes. I make acorn butter, collect wild lettuce and duck potatoes. In another few weeks I’ll be collecting a few pounds a week of greenbrier tips. I make salads with mulberry tree leaves and sourwood tree leaves. One branch from one small tree can give you a few pounds of leaves.
For sums like this, I think that you would need to talk to the recipient and find out more about his situation. “without a word” was probably your basic mistake.
