From the Eye of the Storm
The recent events surrounding Katrina and Rita leave one to contemplate the word. The flood destroyed everyone but Noach and his family. The people of Israel were delivered when a strong wind divided the sea. An East wind brought quail to eat. God spoke to Job out of the eye of the tempest. The question is, what is God trying to tell us.
As I mentioned before, it is no accident that these storms hit where they hit, and there are some important lessons to be learned. The press tries to make it look as if the government does not care for certain groups of people because they are poor, etc. Maybe we should start by asking questions about poverty. Jesus tells us the poor will always be with us. The Tanakh talks about causes of poverty and how we should deal with poverty. My experience of people on Medicaid, is that poor people make poor decisions. We have already seen how some people used the $2000.00 given to them to buy frivolous such as Rolex watches, etc. When people have to work for their money, they respect it more. That is why the Torah instructs us to leave the corners of our fields and vineyards, and not go back for a second harvest. These are to serve for the orphan and widow. We see this acted out in the book of Ruth. When the poor have to work for their sustenance, they begin to break the chains of poverty. When we give things away without requiring work, we create the chains of poverty.
Interestingly enough, about 80 years ago, the unwed mother rate among black women was very close to white women, in fact in some places there were fewer unwed black mothers than white mothers. What happened? The government decided to help the black people because they were downtrodden. The problem was not that the government helped the black people, but the way in which they are helped. When we receive help from the government, it makes us dependent on the government, and not on ourselves or God. Look at our Medicaid system. Most people on Medicaid, take very little responsibility for their own health, because they know the government will take care of them. Women in New York rebelled in the 1970’s when the state of New York tried to make them earn their welfare checks. Living on the dole has become a way of life for many whites, blacks etc.
Oddly what has happened to blacks has spread out to other groups, as we have ignored the Biblical principles. First of all, we need to look and see what the Biblical principle was, i.e.to help the widow and orphan. The reason that the Bible specifies widows and orphans, was because in the system of the day, the widow and orphan were the helpless. It was not their fault that they were widows nor orphans, and they had lost their breadwinners. In other words, we are to help the truly helpless. When we help those who are capable of helping themselves, we are contributing to a system of economic dependence. Often we contributed to other forms of dependence as well. In Honduras it was very rare that I would help anyone with money, but I would help with food or clothing. That was partly because I found money being used for drugs and alcohol. Here I have seen drug users going around selling the free food they were given at the food panty so they could buy crack.
Now this is not to say that we should not fight injustice. There have been problems in our society that have been addressed and need to be addressed, but these problems are rarely solved by throwing money at them, and are rarely solved by government intervention. There are many black families and immigrant families who have risen to the top of society, through old fashioned hard work, and by application of Christian principles and morality to their lives.
Last week, my family and I evacuated our house and left for San Antonio as there was a possibility of a tidal surge which would have completely overwhelmed our house with a wall of water. We left for San Antonio, taking some eleven hours for a trip that would normally take four and one half. We could have done it in six had I not made an error. There were huge lines of cars buying gasoline and cars not making it for various reasons. The problems were multiple, but can be summed in one phrase, lack of planning. Back in May, before hurricane season began, I had planned my route out of town, I checked my car out, and began buying emergency food supplies. It took us a short while to get across Houston and I was able to consult my map over trip changes. My gasoline lasted all the way to San Antonio because I was not afraid to turn my motor off when we were not moving, and because we did not have the air conditioner running. Does this demonstrate that I am smarter than other people? No, it merely demonstrates that I did not wait until the last minute to make my plans. I have been watching hurricanes for more than forty years, and have been planning for them that long. Some of this I learned from my parents. It is important that we all learn to plan for emergencies and disasters, and to help and make provisions for the less fortunate among us.
It is important to to use our minds and wisdome. Mistakes in this situation go back years to when the Corps of Engineers wished to strengthen the levees, but were overruled by the courst and the Sierra Club. It goes back to greed in developping areas below sea level. It goes back to expecting the federal government to solve all our problems instead of taking care of things ourselves, or at a local or state level.
Jesus too, tells us to plan. We should plan about how we should live when he is Lord and saviour of our lives. We should plan on how we advance the Kingdome, and how to best serve him. If you are not his servant, then you should think about your eternal future and learn to make Jesus the Lord of your life.
Shalom and blessings in the Name of Yeshua
+Mar Michael Abportus
mjthan@quik.com
As I mentioned before, it is no accident that these storms hit where they hit, and there are some important lessons to be learned. The press tries to make it look as if the government does not care for certain groups of people because they are poor, etc. Maybe we should start by asking questions about poverty. Jesus tells us the poor will always be with us. The Tanakh talks about causes of poverty and how we should deal with poverty. My experience of people on Medicaid, is that poor people make poor decisions. We have already seen how some people used the $2000.00 given to them to buy frivolous such as Rolex watches, etc. When people have to work for their money, they respect it more. That is why the Torah instructs us to leave the corners of our fields and vineyards, and not go back for a second harvest. These are to serve for the orphan and widow. We see this acted out in the book of Ruth. When the poor have to work for their sustenance, they begin to break the chains of poverty. When we give things away without requiring work, we create the chains of poverty.
Interestingly enough, about 80 years ago, the unwed mother rate among black women was very close to white women, in fact in some places there were fewer unwed black mothers than white mothers. What happened? The government decided to help the black people because they were downtrodden. The problem was not that the government helped the black people, but the way in which they are helped. When we receive help from the government, it makes us dependent on the government, and not on ourselves or God. Look at our Medicaid system. Most people on Medicaid, take very little responsibility for their own health, because they know the government will take care of them. Women in New York rebelled in the 1970’s when the state of New York tried to make them earn their welfare checks. Living on the dole has become a way of life for many whites, blacks etc.
Oddly what has happened to blacks has spread out to other groups, as we have ignored the Biblical principles. First of all, we need to look and see what the Biblical principle was, i.e.to help the widow and orphan. The reason that the Bible specifies widows and orphans, was because in the system of the day, the widow and orphan were the helpless. It was not their fault that they were widows nor orphans, and they had lost their breadwinners. In other words, we are to help the truly helpless. When we help those who are capable of helping themselves, we are contributing to a system of economic dependence. Often we contributed to other forms of dependence as well. In Honduras it was very rare that I would help anyone with money, but I would help with food or clothing. That was partly because I found money being used for drugs and alcohol. Here I have seen drug users going around selling the free food they were given at the food panty so they could buy crack.
Now this is not to say that we should not fight injustice. There have been problems in our society that have been addressed and need to be addressed, but these problems are rarely solved by throwing money at them, and are rarely solved by government intervention. There are many black families and immigrant families who have risen to the top of society, through old fashioned hard work, and by application of Christian principles and morality to their lives.
Last week, my family and I evacuated our house and left for San Antonio as there was a possibility of a tidal surge which would have completely overwhelmed our house with a wall of water. We left for San Antonio, taking some eleven hours for a trip that would normally take four and one half. We could have done it in six had I not made an error. There were huge lines of cars buying gasoline and cars not making it for various reasons. The problems were multiple, but can be summed in one phrase, lack of planning. Back in May, before hurricane season began, I had planned my route out of town, I checked my car out, and began buying emergency food supplies. It took us a short while to get across Houston and I was able to consult my map over trip changes. My gasoline lasted all the way to San Antonio because I was not afraid to turn my motor off when we were not moving, and because we did not have the air conditioner running. Does this demonstrate that I am smarter than other people? No, it merely demonstrates that I did not wait until the last minute to make my plans. I have been watching hurricanes for more than forty years, and have been planning for them that long. Some of this I learned from my parents. It is important that we all learn to plan for emergencies and disasters, and to help and make provisions for the less fortunate among us.
It is important to to use our minds and wisdome. Mistakes in this situation go back years to when the Corps of Engineers wished to strengthen the levees, but were overruled by the courst and the Sierra Club. It goes back to greed in developping areas below sea level. It goes back to expecting the federal government to solve all our problems instead of taking care of things ourselves, or at a local or state level.
Jesus too, tells us to plan. We should plan about how we should live when he is Lord and saviour of our lives. We should plan on how we advance the Kingdome, and how to best serve him. If you are not his servant, then you should think about your eternal future and learn to make Jesus the Lord of your life.
Shalom and blessings in the Name of Yeshua
+Mar Michael Abportus
mjthan@quik.com
posted by The Synod of Saint Timothy at 11:22
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