Jack’s Winning Words 12/10/21
“Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.” (Aristotle) In Aristotle’s day 89% of people were
considered to live in poverty. In America. World-wide (9.2% .
You don’t have to be a sociologist to “see” why there is unrest, not just in
America. Many think the solution is to be found in “caring” about poor
people. Caring may involve money, but it’s more than that. I
applaud those who work among the poor, who are “A voice for the
voiceless.” I knew a father who’d take his sons with him to work in a
Detroit soup kitchen. Do you know any people like that? ;-) Jack
FROM ST PAUL IN ST PAUL: i made a hard copy of this one. Aristotle was sooo right. when you have a real imbalance of wealth in any society, you are laying the groundwork for revolution, sometimes peace but usually not. have a good weekend, Jack. last night we went to the Concordia College Christmas Concert at Orchestra Hall in Mpls. 330 voices and full orchestra. just a wonderful pre-Christmas experience. watch for it on TV around Christmas Day on Public TV. ===JACK: Inequality disputes start at the family dinner table. She got "more" than I did. Another comment among kids....NO FAIR!
FROM SHARIN'SHARON: Appreciate the WW you generated for us today, especially in this season of so much spending and gift giving. Didn’t actually realize our country’s poverty level is as low as $12,760. I’ve had many people mentor me in appreciating the gifts to us and society people of lesser means provide. The major reason I’ve been such an ardent supporter of Church World Service CROP Hunger Walks is their way of being with poor people is to respect and give dignity to them that they know their own needs and if we help provide them resources, they can work out the solutions. I suppose Lutheran Relief and all the faith charities work on this foundation as Jesus had a way of saying to people that their faith had impacted their wholeness and so forth. Looking down on people and judging their merits to receive or be denied assistance is counter-productive, in my opinion anyway, but it’s the kind of sinning we people who don’t know material poverty are apt to experience, have to repent of, and learn more about seeing people as God sees all of us. Relationships in the Church are very necessary, again in my opinion, to help navigate the helping attitude which actually gives people a hand up and not just a hand out which robs them of their self-respect. Appreciate the sharing about the father and son helping at the soup kitchen. Thanks for the WW,===JACK: Thanks for clling our attention to ways that we can help people raise their standard of living. Most of us (at time) are like the rich man (in the Bible) who gives not attention to poor Lazarus outside the gate of the city.
FROM SR IN SJ: Oh, I do! THERE ARE A THOUSAND REASONS TO HOPE!😀 ===JACK: 1000 are good, but just one is enough. Some people are yearning for just a glimmer of hope. Maybe we can give it to them; then, we w3ill have 999 left for ourselves.
FROM FACEBOOK LIZ: there's this amazing solution: it's called work. no shortage of it here at the moment. what is poverty in the US? everyone seems to be overweight, decorated w/tattoos, taking pics w/latest cell phone... are they poor? jesus said there will always be poor. do you think jesus would call these people poor?===JACK: As your idol Ronald Reagan once said..."There you go again!" ...throwing around stereotypical generalities. All poor people are not obese, tattooed, lazy or have cellphones. Also, Jesus did not mean that poverty was a good thing. What He said was...that there will always be the needy among us...that there will always be opportunities for the "wealthy" (you and me) to share with the less fortunate. Jobs, jobs, jobs is a false issue, too...when the pay is less than it costs to get to work...when you don't have the skills called for. Today's quotation is about the cause of unrest all over the world. I think that the Salvation Army is a great organization that helps needy people with no questions asked and no judgments made. Now, I'll get off of my soapbox.===LIZ: i was not aware that i had idols. sounds as if you may be stereotyping me. did you take econ in college? it was my minor. do you understand what causes inflation, the likes of which we have not seen in 40 years? when people are uneducated (thanks to the public school system), it is tough to get jobs that require more cognitive skills than making fast food. let's start there.===JACK: I'm simply aware of the problem. I don't have all of the answers. I just know that there some poor people, people poorer than I am. I want to help them in whatever way I can. We were poor during the Great Depression, and I'm not going to forget the people who helped us out. Poverty and unrest are complex problems.
FROM DAZ IN CO: I like the ELCA program to supply farm animals for poor people in Africa. Unfortunately much of the Crime and revolution we have isn't caused by poverty.===JACK: Last year my sister went shopping in that ELCA catalog and "bought"an outhouse in her brother's honor. Sadly, "unrest" is caused by a combination of reasons, only one is inequity of wealth. TV is like the old Sears catalog, showing many actractive things...if only I had the money.
FROM BB IN CHGO: Yes we do and the children make friends with the recipients more easily than the parents😊===JACK: as a parent you have done a good job in teaching your children "how to give." They have also been taught that"it is more blessed to give than to receive."
FROM DR J IN OHIO: I applaud poverty fighters too! That’s why I really like Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders… The country might not be ready for them, but we need them. I admire their spunk for equity!===JACK: IMO, Bernie and Elizabeth would never be elected nationally, but neither would Jesus. That says something about those voting.
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