Winning Words 10/4/12
“A rich man is nothing but a poor man with money.”  (W.C. Fields)  The Occupy Movement has as its slogan, “We are the 99%.”  Figures show that 99% of U.S. people earn less than $506,000.  That puts me in the 99%.  The point of W.C.’s quote is that we are all the same.  But not really!  Jesus was asked, “Who is my neighbor?”  Could it be the unemployed, the homeless, the abused, the hungry?  What can I do?     ;-)  Jack

 FROM RI IN BOSTON:  Yep, we are all the same:  "We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags." (Is. 64:6)  Having a lot of money doesn't change it.  Most of us put something in the "charity pot" but that's not enough...we should get more personally involved in more of our daily situations.  I'll confess, I'm at the top of the list of the "guilty"////FROM JACK:  When I was growing up, the minister would say (before the confession of sins), "If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."////RI:  Thank you for that consolation.  I have a good Christian friend who tells me the same thing.

 FROM HAWKEYE GEORGE:  I told everyone about my early home life that, "We weren't poor; we just didn't have any money."////FROM JACK:  My Uncle John used to call the hymn, "Come You Sinners, Poor and Needy," the Depression Song,  because it had a line, "Without money, without money, come to Jesus Christ and buy."

 FROM BLAZING OAKS:  I would guess that most of your readers and participants are in the 99%! Certainly retired clergy! But how RICH we are in other ways; with family, good friends, books, concerts and plays, church family and (compared to the majority of the world) a very comfortable life. Even lower middle class here would be wealthy in most countries in the world.  But we all DO have common  human needs and feelings; rich or  poor. To be loved and needed and appreciated seems uppermost...////FROM JACK:  A few of my friends are in the 1%, but they put their pants on, one leg at a time, and are generous givers.

 FROM MEDD-O-LANE:  I am sorry, W C Fields is not worth quoting.  He was a person with a large nose and a bottle of booze.  AND The Occupy Movement isn't either!  I hope I will be counted as one of those RICH people because I have been blessed with a long fairly healthy life, five healthy children that are now grown with healthy families.  I would not trade with any person that is RICH in money.////FROM JACK:  Yesterday's WWs mentioned God's concern for the sparrow and the mouse.  Could it be that he's concerned about W.C. and the Occupy people, too?  BTW, yours is a good response as to what makes people rich.

FROM GP IN MICHIGAN:  Is the income figure listed showing an extra digit or is that a life time income? ////FROM JACK:  According to the Wall Street Journal, as of October 2011, the lower 99% of income distribution in the United States is made up of those earning less than $506,000 annually.  That means that 1% make over that amount each year.

 FROM PLAIN FOLKS CHESTER:  I created this a couple of years ago just for kicks.  " I was unhappy that I had no friends until I met a man who had no money."////FROM JACK: In the first part of the 20th century there was a Japanese Christian named, Kagawa.  He was always in need of clothing.  When people would give him something to wear, he'd give the items to someone needier than he was.  He would literally give a stranger the shirt off of his back.  This is not to be critical of what you wrote, but only a piece of information about an unusual person.////PFC:  Yes, and it is the custom in France, that when a man admires your necktie, you take it off and give it to him.

 FROM SHARIN' SHARON:  You could say that a poor person is just a rich person without any money but, if you're talking about monetarily rich people I wonder if poor people would identify because they're so used to powerful rich people trampling on their lives and somehow sabotaging their being able to have even their basic physical needs met. Actually, I'm wondering if W.C. Fields had more empathy for poor folk than rich folk and, if he did, I'm with him on this WW.////FROM JACK:  I think that you're right in observing that the rich often have a difficult time identifying with the plight of the poor...and the poor often are justified in being suspicious of the intentions of the rich.  Someone needs to be a benevolent emissary.

 FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  I'm wondering if the Occupy Movement believes no one should earn $506,000?  I'm wondering where they draw the line....why not $400,000  or $300,000 or $200,000...we don't have that much either.  It's interesting what some people believe is wealth.  God gives us what we need not necessarily what we want.  I believe we should be all judged on our actions whether rich (?) or poor.  In a perfect world, we would love each other no matter what.  That's one of the reasons Jesus had to come down for us.  We are all wealthy in many ways.////FROM JACK:  The $506,000 amount is simply a statistic from The Wall Street Journal.  The Census Bureau figures show 15% of Americans living at, or below, the poverty level ($23,050)

 FROM TAMPA SHIRL:  Lots of people have always needed help for circumstances beyond their control, That has been the challenge through the years- how to help them.  Years ago there were orphanages and homes for older children who had no homes.  You know that during the depression the hobos had marked the homes where they were assured a sandwich.  Today we have food pantries and subsidized housing to help those unfortunates.  We just have to do the best that can be done ////FROM JACK:  Tampa and some other warmer places are feeling the impact of the homeless.