Thinking Bigger--I dare you.

It is very late indeed. But I'm feeling the desire to write. My fingers want to talk. Just getting home from an evening of church and then a very late dinner with lots of friends in Seattle. I'm so full of Thai food...ugh!

Lately I've been thinking about wealth. Sound boring? Then go away. Sound curious? Then do sit and stay awhile. You are always welcome.

By the American standard...I'm not exactly super wealthy. I live in an apartment, soon to be great condo. I drive a car that's kinda old. I don't have a ton of things and I don't wear designer clothes. Unless you count name brands from my favorite outdoor sporting goods and clothing store, REI. I do have a great job though that I quite enjoy and I lack for nothing.

My point is this....in the light of third world countries, I'm exceeding wealthy and so are you. We too often take what we have for granted because we only see what we don't have due to our covetous hearts. (Oh that we would know True contentment!) In some places, you have whole families and extended families living under a tiny shack of a home. They don't own bikes, let alone cars. Or they live in garbage dumps. The family's income is from the family's goat.

Poverty will never go away. The poor, more often than not, get poorer.I don't know if this is something that you ever think about, but I do. The thing is, living here in a land so prosperous, it's easy to be ignorant to the heartbreak and oppression that happens all over the world. The TV and the newspapers talk about it, but until you get involved, it's just some casual conversation that surmises an "Oh that's too bad" attitude. I admit to having that attitude myself in the past.


Have you seen the movie Amazing Grace? I love that movie. It's so inspiring! William Wilberforce was so young. Yet, he was a man of God. He was a man of passion and compassion. In the movie, you see him walk past beggars and just give them the loose change he has. He doesn't think about "Hmm, should I or not?" He just saw a need and met it, even in the most simple way. He wasn't afraid of the less fortunate, rather, he embraced them because they were. At one point, he has a ton of homeless people in his house eating all his food! It was nutty ok. But so what? He never stopped reaching out to do the things that God has called us to do. William loved people not just in word, but in deed.(Just like Jesus) Which is what we are called to as well.

I wrote a post awhile back about screaming on the inside. I feel though, unless I pour my life out to Him as drink offering...I'll always be screaming on the inside about something. Let's not stay content in our little worlds. Let's live bigger and more selflessly than that. Dear God, please show us how.