*Jack’s Winning Words  10/6/22

“When you give food to the poor they call you a saint.  When you ask why the poor have no food they call you a communist.”  (Dom Helder Camara)  Camara, a Brazilian bishop and a proponent of Liberation Theology, is one of my religious heroes, right up there with Martin Luther.  He was small in stature, but had a huge heart (especially for the poor).  The Church, at times, can be an enigma.  It talks about serving people as Jesus did, and, yet it sometimes honors what the world calls, “success.”  Do you have any suggestions as to what the Church might do to make it a more welcoming place?  …and do you have any suggestions for helping to meet the needs of the poor?  ;-)  Jack 

FROM WILLMAR REV:  I'm often found being that example of that “boy throwing the starfish back into the ocean” when it comes to the overwhelming task of 'responsible' (legitimacy vs. abuse) benevolent giving . .“Once upon a time, there was an old man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach every morning before he began his work. Early one morning, he was walking along the shore after a big storm had passed and found the vast beach littered with starfish as far as the eye could see, stretching in both directions.    “Off in the distance, the old man noticed a small boy approaching.  As the boy walked, he paused every so often and as he grew closer, the man could see that he was occasionally bending down to pick up an object and throw it into the sea.  The boy came closer still and the man called out, ‘Good morning!  May I ask what it is that you are doing?”   “The young boy paused, looked up, and replied ‘Throwing starfish into the ocean. The tide has washed them up onto the beach and they can’t return to the sea by themselves,’ the youth replied. ‘When the sun gets high, they will die, unless I throw them back into the water.’   “The old man replied, ‘But there must be tens of thousands of starfish on this beach. I’m afraid you won’t really be able to make much of a difference.’   “The boy bent down, picked up yet another starfish and threw it as far as he could into the ocean. Then he turned, smiled, and said, ‘It made a difference to that one!’” 0;-) ===JACK:  We each can make a difference...positive or negative.  This week I heard of someone who was discouraged from becoming a pastor, because she was married to an AG minister.  Sad, Sad! ===REV:   That reminds me of my experience over in East Detroit (now Eastpoint) before moving over to West Bloomfield . . . I often thought, as I would dare not say it out loud, I wouldn’t be attending that church if I were not it’s pastor . . . Very difficult it was for me those four years as the wealthy church treasure was the ‘go to person’ for any major decision to be made . . . No board meeting unless ‘George’ was present. Then I met Jack Freed of the Holy Spirit Lutheran Church and pastoral life then “got sweeter as the day went by!” 0;-)===JACK:  "There's so much bad in the best of us and so much good in the worst of us, that it behooves none of us to speak ill of the rest of us."  AG, Lutheran, Catholic or Jewish?  Does Jesus care?

FROM BS IN ENGLAND:   Once a month  we have Cafe Church when we sit around small tables for the service which is informal, discussions etc and lots of cake and coffee. The congregation is different for that service, also we collect food for the food bank===JACK:  What a wonderful way "to  do church!"  There are times when it's refreshing to take a break from tradition.  As long as God is invited to be a guest, I'm all for it.

FROM SHARIN' SHARON:  A thought-provoking WW.  Our whole society is trying to deal with this issue I think and terribly polarized on it.  In my opinion, we the affluent don’t really deeply understand our own needs and keep trying to grasp in the wrong places for our security—the golden calf spirituality one might say—we need to better and more successfully understand the gifts and faith the poor can bless us with but there seems to be so many obstacles and fears actually in poor people and rich people actually opening up to get to knowing each other authentically.  Money gets in the way of developing relationships—there is more in humanity than just fears of losing money or by someone cheating someone else out of their money.  Get down to the Soul of things, in my opinion, but materially, spiritually, emotionally, psychologically, socially, ethically, religiously, nationally hard to do.  Thought-provoking WW, Pastor Freed.  No easy answers, God must know best and help us all, poor and rich to get through.  And preserve us all. ===JACK:  What to do about the poor?  ...a question facing each generation.  It seems as though Jesus was always on their side...and since I want to be on the side of Jesus, I feel that I must have a concern for the poor.  Now...what's the best way to show this concern?  Ahhhh, there's the rub!

FROM SALON SUZY:  This is my third week volunteering at the Food Shelf at church. So rewarding===JACK:  Congratulations!  You are in the process of learning that there's more to life than just making a living.

FROM RS IN TEXAS:  I've rarely found church pastors .....and church members as a group....to come out and publicly endorse a political candidate.  To me it's pretty clear which political party advocates spending tax dollars on programs (and laws) to help the poor and disadvantaged.  We can do what we can as individuals to help, and perhaps .....as our church does....some local programs to help.  Nonetheless, it would seem to me that the church leadership should challenge the congregation to think long and hard about that and in a not so subtle way "endorse" most Democrats.  We can all do a little. Taking a little (in tax dollars) from everyone in a country of 330 million people and channeling it to helping the poor....domestic or immigrants/refugees....could have such a huge impact.  As a sidebar to that, it seems that of the many people that complain about the crime rate, few realize that getting people out of poverty has a huge impact on the crime rate.===JACK:  I speak out for the disadvantaged, realizing that there are differences of opinion as to how is the best way to help the poor.  People know where I stand, even though I do not publicly endorse a party.  What I admire about Camara is that he stood up for the poor when that meant putting his life in danger and being labeled as a communist.

FROM WILKIE:  This is a great quote, Jack.  Thanks for sharing.  One thing the church can do  to be more welcoming, in my opinion, is tell visitors donations are not expected of them.===JACK:  That's an interesting comment.  During the pandemic it seems that more and more people are giving in other ways than the typical Sunday offering plate.  I've noticed that fewer and fewer people put something into the offering plates when ushers come to the aisles.  

FROM CPA MIKE:    I remember reading a book about how charities do so much better than the government in helping the disadvantaged.  Here in Florida we have several local charities that raise tens of millions of dollars to house and feed needy people (St. Matthew's House and Harry Chapin Food Bank for example).  My observation is that the primary goal of the people dedicated to these efforts (donations or volunterism) is to provide as much as they can and to expand their outreach.   I'm thinking that when you have dedicated and talented people behind the effort things get done but it requires focus and making charity a number one priority. ===JACK:  One of the responsibilities of good government is to take care of the needs of its people.  That's one of the reasons for taxes.  As in the case of the recent hurricane, there are special needs that arise and additional funds are needed...provided by the govt and by caring people.  Eleemosynary groups can't be expected to do it alone, but throughout history they have led the way in truly caring about the needs of people.

FROM FACEBOOK LIZ:  teach the poor, to the best of their abilities, real job skills... work brings satisfaction, feelings of worth and respect.  here we have a homeless shelter where residents do the daily maintenance. there is also a very nice soup kitchen run by catholic church where the poor work and are paid.  give people respect, not a handout===JACK:  I've read that the Detroit Public Schools are offering a different "track" to students rather than the pre-college one.  It's designed to teach student just what you are suggesting.  The "Detroit area" is finding a severe shortage of skilled builders and other trades people.  I still see a need to feed children who come to school hungry and without adequate clothing.  ===LIZ:  yay! this is way more productive than teaching people they are victims. this is how we used to do it when america worked.  anyone can send a sandwich to school w/THEIR OWN KIDS. i did it w/joy for years, and i worked, too...  ===JACK:  Times have changed and we have to adapt.  In your mind, you may think that the old way continues to be the best way.  As I see it, the world becomes a better place when we hang on to "good" of the past and improve on that which was not good.  What is shown on TV affects the "wants" of people and their perceived needs.  TV and the internet have really had an affect.===L:  agree, and w/choices beyond three tv networks, we are more free to gather information and entertainment.===JACK:  I try to refuse to be manipulated by BIG money, but I do like to watch Big 10 Football...but even that is ad-filled.

    FROM SR RD:  Karmel, thank you so much for sending this by one of my favorite thinkers and writers!===JACK:  Didn't I share a copy of his book with you?  I will forward it, for sure!

FROM ME IN NEWPORT BEACH:   By promoting the golden rule, which to me is what all religions should be about.  The perfect common denominator. ===JACK:  That's OK, if "as you would have them do unto" includes a good impression of self-worth.  BTW< Penney's was originally called, The Goldren Rule Store, because founder, J C Penney insisted that all employees treat customers according to the Golden Rule.  If you look back to old-time photos you will see the Penney's store sign as a yellow golden rule with J C Penney superimposed upon it.