Monday, May 02, 2005
live generously
ben and i are apart of a book study that meets monday nights. .. we are currently reading brian mclaren's book, a new kind of christian. .. i had some thoughts... last week we disused how to truly be a christian means to not live in an individualistic society. to quote mr. mclaren " to be truly good means recognizing that there are ultimately no strangers. everybody is my neighbor. everybody is my brother....we are all connected". Our society values individualism. so i was thinking about when the young man approaches jesus and asks him how to get into heaven, and jesus tells the man to go sell everything he owns and give it to the poor. i don't think it's because being poor is a sure way to get into heaven. being rich makes being an individual eaiser. you don't have to rely on any one. and when you are rich, giving money away is a lot harder.. you tend to think, it's my money, i worked for it... and tend to value possessions.. maybe being poor is all about not having anything to call "mine".. so that we live in a society where we don't mind sharing with others.. it's not the money thats bad, it's how it makes us think and act that's bad. i want to live a generous life.. how do i reconcile that with the fact that i also want to buy a lexus?
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2 comments:
Oh chara.. the little socialist. vladimir llich lenin is aplauding from the grave. Putting yourself in the position to help others creates ways to help others. Your trip is one way you are putting your self in the position to help people. Earning money, could be another. Sometimes helping people consists of not helping them(think about that one). I am sure you will always be in the position to help others. Live generously but live intelligently, question everything.
hmmmm.. a socialsit... maybe, but i doubt it.. i was thinking more globally than locally... half the world, nearly 3 billion people live on less than 2 dollars a day..my common sense (and maybe a little guilt) tells me that my 500 dollar a month payment for my lexus is a little much.. I could take that 16 dollars a day and help 8 people with it.. i was thinking more of me, and my life.. and how i should live..
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