...there should be no poor among you...

'That's where we need to be generous!' I said to myself.

I just did a paper on the book of Ruth in my studies. I think the research I did will be going through my head for a very long time to come.

God provided for the poor, the orphans, the widows and the foreigners.(Leviticus 19:9,10) Farmers were not to reap to the very edges of their fields or gather the gleanings of their harvest. "Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the Lord your God." Wow. 'I am the Lord your God'....we would do well to listen. So,the care of the poor depends on our generosity, doesn't it? It bothers me a lot that we live in such a wealthy society and the poor remain in the world, here on our doorstep and far away where we can't see them.

My daughter, bless her soul, challenged me just today. She and her husband are not giving gifts this Christmas and they wish not to receive any either.They have decided to give what they can to an organization that does effective work in Africa in lieu of gifts. Most people will go into debt to buy nice things for others who don't need anything, while so many on this planet don't have the basics to live properly. Time to shake some sense into our heads. I'm one to talk, I know. What am I going to do about this? A serious kick in the pants is needed! Get creative woman! I wrote a cheque for our little girl in Africa and said to myself, 'that's where we need to be generous.'
How do we leave the edges of our fields and the missed and fallen grapes of our bounty for those who really need them? We will have to answer for this some day.

"However, there should be no poor among you"...(Deut. 15:4)... No...kidding.

And...what's with this 'we' business? I...me...that's who's business!