When Others are not so Blessed II

Last week I asked the question of how we are to live as rich, full people in a poor, hungry world. If I really wanted to hear what you think I probably should have made the wildly outrageous claim that every rich person should give away all his money and then I would have had the privilege of hearing your thoughts as you corrected my error. But I didn't do that, so I still don't know what you think.

Last week I'm afraid I came dangerously close to holding myself up as someone who helps the poor. I'm not. Once in a while I give a beggar some food. But I don't know how to really help these people. Maybe I'll learn. But my theory is that, until then, I will use my time and energy to help someone who knows how to help them. Maybe last week's question was too personal or maybe no one else has a good answer either. I've heard a lot of guilt-tripping, a lot of "somebody do something" sermons, and a lot of "support me" mission speeches. Some of those things may be okay, but they really never quite answered the question in a way I can understand.

Like I said last week, I really don't have a solid, logically consistent answer to the question. But I do have a few convictions that help me think about it:

1. It is very clear from the Bible that God cares enormously for the poor, the widows, and the orphans and that a Godly person will care for them as well. This includes tangibly meeting their needs and defending them from those who exploit them.

2. I firmly believe that we are not called to guilt and that permanently living with guilt about these things is not good or right. God does not ask us to do more than He gives us the strength or ability to joyfully do. But sometimes He does give us the strength and ability to do way more than we have the guts to try.

3. God gives us good blessings and He wants us to thank Him for them and enjoy them even if He has not given the same blessings to someone else.

4. God wants us to use the blessings He has given us to bless others.

5. How God works with other people is often beyond what we are able to understand.

6. Love will always cost us something and we are called to deny ourselves to follow Him.

But I really don't like lists of "principles to live by". Let me try to get at this another way.

When I was a young child, there were highlights to my life. I still remember them. They were the times my dad would take us swimming in the creek with a tractor-tire inner tube, the times my mom would take us swimming at the public pool in town, the times my parents or grandparents took us out to eat at "El Vaquero" -- the height of fine dining in my young life --, the times the McCloy family came over for dinner and games, and when I got money for my birthday. I still remember the first time my Granddad gave me $50. It was a fabulous amount of wealth to me and more than I ever really thought I'd have. I enjoyed the power and possibilities more than I enjoyed actually spending it. I weighed my options for months after that. And I remember being overwhelmed by my riches all over again when I realized that I could buy a digital watch with a light and a stop-watch for $20 and still have more than half of the money left. It was a glorious moment. I really don't remember what I did with the other $30 except for facing the sobering reality that $2 of it went for sales tax on the watch. That's when I realized that, with large purchases, the tax adds up.

I say all this because there's not much that can give me that childhood thrill anymore. I may have experienced some version of it when I got a scholarship to college, got to study abroad, and first fulfilled my dream of working at the White House. But it's not the same. The only time I really get that birthday money thrill is when I have set aside money to give away to someone who needs it. It's that same feeling that I don't know what I'm going to do with it, but whatever it is will be wonderful. The money can just sit there in all its glory until I find that perfect thing. And then, I can spend it -- carefully to make sure I get my money's worth -- but freely because it is there to spend.

But even more than money there is time and talent. Each person gets an allotment of personal time and abilities. It's a thrill that rivals my birthday money when I realize that I have a unique mind and personality and that I have 24 hours a day to manage and refine these things so that I can be a blessing and so that I can give my Creator the joy of seeing me live out what He created me to be. I get to continually roam this world of possibilities looking to see where I can grow my mind and soul and where I can spend this bit of time, ability, and money that I have been given. Someone may look on the child's-birthday-money high I get out of this little adventure and smile like the adults who watched me spend my $50. And that's okay. As a slightly jaded adult, this is the closest I get to experiencing the sheer joy of a child with a fabulous wad of money in his pocket. I'm not about to give it up just because someone out there has a bigger wad of money. Neither am I going to give it up because someone out there finds his petty $50 to be boring and not worth the excitement.