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POOR PEOPLE

R

reba

Member
Poor People?
POOR PEOPLE ? One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.
On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, 'How was the trip?' 'It was great, Dad.' 'Did you see how poor people live?' the father asked. 'Oh yeah,' said the son. 'So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?' asked the father.
The son answered: 'I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them.'
The boy's father was speechless. Then his son added, 'Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are.'
Isn't perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don't have. Appreciate every single thing you have, especially your friends! Refresh their perspective and appreciation. 'Life is too short and friends are too few.'
 
Reba

Where do you find these things? That's the greatest example of wisdom out of the mouth of babes I've ever seen. Children as yet unaffected by cultural wisdom. Even if it was only a parable or metaphorical story not based on fact. But it's written as if it's an actual occurrence.

God gave us so many good things to enjoy, even on this fallen world. Including, as you mentioned, close friends. Reminds me of Tiny Tim in Charles Dickens' Christmas Carol. It's remarkable how sometimes children can so easily see the obvious, where we "mature" grownups can't see a thing.

I believe that "the poor" are given to us as a gift by God to help us more affluent ones to grow out of being so self-centered.

FC
 
You sure said a LOT in a few words. :yes

Former Christian said:
Children as yet unaffected by cultural "wisdom".
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Indeed.

Even if it was only a parable or metaphorical story not based on fact. But it's written as if it's an actual occurrence.
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Like so much of the Bible - I mean, does it MATTER if some guy spent three days in a fish - or does it REALLY matter that we learn what the story is teaching?

God gave us so many good things to enjoy, even on this fallen world. Including, as you mentioned, close friends. Reminds me of Tiny Tim in Charles Dickens' Christmas Carol. It's remarkable how sometimes children can so easily see the obvious, where we "mature" grownups can't see a thing.
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Education can be brain damage - when it's really indoctrination and not education.

I believe that "the poor" are given to us as a gift by God to help us more affluent ones to grow out of being so self-centered.
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I have several problems with that kind of thinking... but am going to think on this for a few hours or days... expect a new thread bases on this thought of yours in a few days or a week. :chin
 
Pizzaguy

Like so much of the Bible - I mean, does it MATTER if some guy spent three days in a fish - or does it REALLY matter that we learn what the story is teaching?
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Well, I guess that all depends on how one views the bible. If the bible is inspired like poetry is inspired, I guess it doesn’t make any difference. But if the bible is inspired in the sense that Paul used the term, (God-breathed) and as Peter backed up that idea, then yes, it would make a lot of difference. I didn’t consider Reba’s story to be the same as the bible. But I do think that the ideas presented in that story can be found somewhere in the bible.

Education can be brain damage - when it's really indoctrination and not education.
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Most definitely. Too bad so much education in America, and in the American Churches, is only indoctrination. In the Churches especially, that’s unfortunate. The nation will one day be no more. As is the case with all man-made nations eventually. But in the Churches, it creates a lot of people with a relationship with doctrine, without a relationship with the one whom the doctrine is supposed to be about. And that has to do with eternity.

I believe that "the poor" are given to us as a gift by God to help us more affluent ones to grow out of being so self-centered.
I have several problems with that kind of thinking... but am going to think on this for a few hours or days... expect a new thread bases on this thought of yours in a few days or a week.
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Nothing to argue about. It’s just a personal observation.

In case you misunderstood, it’s not a statement against affluence. We in America do live in a Capitalistic society after all, with an emphasis on monetary gain. And that emphasis can, and too often does, distort not only the Capitalistic system itself, but the views of those who are affluent due to their work within the system. And this is brought out very well in Reba’s first post. The distortion comes from thinking that lack of money makes one poor. When often nothing could be further from the truth.

I am close to a family that has been poor by monetary standards for years. But they are rich in many other ways. And like the country people in Reba’s story, they always have had a roof over their head and enough to eat. Sometimes things like clothing can be a problem. But I have been provided to them, whether one wants to think of it as by God or not, to help out in such things. And it has been a definite help to my overly self-centered nature.

FC
 
No offense, FC, but your reason for having the poor among us almost sounds like a self-centered comment in and of itself. If I were poor, I'd be a little insulted. "I'm poor to help you?" They're needful because we live in a fallen world, and we're Called to help them.

I went on a few mission trips to a very deprived area of Brazil. I've never known such peace. These people knew very well what it was like to rely on the Lord for every breath they took; every day they lived. But, they need to know they matter.

I don't believe having wealth makes someone evil or that being poor makes someone holy. With the heart in the right place, either one can be a blessing. When I read the Beatitudes, I see the true "poor" as being the shunned, the outcasts, the lonely, the left-out. In a spiritual sense, they are those outside of the Lord's Kingdom, but I'm referring to Jesus' call to not neglect the poor. We're Called to help the orphans, widows, and imprisoned, but in a large scope, I see them as the "misfits". They're all around us at both ends of the economic spectrum and everywhere between. And the Lord Weeps over their broken hearts.

I went way off topic, didn't I, reba? Sorry.
 
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