Being able to make choices is something I take for granted.  Whether its to choose to turn off the news about a war, or what to work on, or what to have for lunch.  The majority of people worldwide do not have choices like this at all.  Millions of people don’t have the ability to choose to shut off a war as fighting is around them, or what to eat or not to eat is their only choice.   With all the gifts and blessings each day brings as our cups overflow, it is always nice to know the freedom, safety, and health God blessed us with allows us to make choices.  Lets try to make choices to not be self-absorbed but rather count our blessings and choose to help the less fortunate.

Photo: [americares]

This image is of a little fighter living UNDER concrete and disaster with no food nor water for days only to be elated first over being exhausted.  The rescue workers and all involved in that rescue experienced joy in its purest form.  See the video of the rescue here.

I have always been grateful for how God gives us the experience of joy from the simple moments to the misery of seeming defeat thousands of miles away.

- Moina Michael
Photo: [FLICKR]

What a great way of honoring the brave people of the US Military, to dedicate a day.  I hope as a country we can understand it is not a convenient three-day weekend, but a time to remember or even for us parents, teach these little ones why they are not in school today. Or even that the very peaceful road we drive on to Lowes without fear of car bombs, was paved by sacrifice of men and women who love this country.

Photo: [flickr]

What if there was a way to quickly receive critical funds to get groceries for a needy family within hours? OR…What if you could donate or tithe knowing EXACTLY where your money went each Friday via an email / rss / txt etc.? Thats the backbone of my idea.  Create a portal that not-for-profits (churches etc.) that could govern the communication / funds between the needy and the blessed.  Not sure if its a money making idea, nor I am not sure I care, but talk about a problem that can be solved with the Internet & kindness of neighbors.

Anywho…This picture is of Apostle Paul in prison (supposedly writing the letters to Corinthians etc.) painted by a true genius, Rembrandt. I believe this painting represents how someone can carefully express their talent while maintaining the reverence of scripture vs. just using 3000 year old truths to move a silly agenda of bad ideas.

Rant begins….During the seminar one of the speakers said “I counsel people to do this and that.  Dont worry, you can do that..read Romans 13.” WTF???

Or even better…to take the 11th chapter of ecclesiastics with “Divide your portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what misfortune may occur on the earth.” and spinning to an admonition of portfolio diversification like Solomon was thinking about his Charles Schwab account.   Clowns.  So then we continued to look selfishly at scripture searching for verses to justify the group to build nest eggs, plan our retirement, savings, and to keep our current economic comfort zone in the USA.

What a F’D up perspective.

Here is the correct perspective: First, name it “Managing it all in an Economic Crisis.”  Then on the day of seminar, people need to walk in that room, pray with thanksgiving and gratitude that we ate breakfast in our home that gave us the energy and physical strength to walk to our cars that took us to the building protected by young soldiers that want to just be home.  Then when all the mouths are dry from realization of their own greed and pride, we then take the second half of the seminar, to “manage” our wealth, time and talent during the economic crisis.  We group together, ask who has what (time, money, stuff) and see how we can help the less fortunate in our backyard that are really hurting from this financial crisis vs. working on how we are going to bullet proof our own pocketbooks during crisis.

I wonder if the people in Rwanda who read Ecclesiastics 11 during their crisis(es) think about moving their Fidelity 401k to more of an agressive small cap fund?