Facebook

Reading Facebook often scares the bejeezus out of me.  I get insight into people that I never had before, and frankly, some of it is disgusting.  Someone I worked with at church thinks the movie "2016" is full of truth and that helping the poor is opening the door to communism.  Others insist that all people on welfare are just slackers.  When did we become such an ugly nation of mean, greedy people?  So, yes, I'm on my soapbox again today.  I was so upset by smarmy Mitt Moneybags in the debate last night that this is what came out.

A Day in the Life of a Poor Kid

You get your little sister up, because your mom has already left for one of the three jobs she works because your dad left after your sister was born because he didn’t want the responsibility of a family. Your mom had to leave school at 16 because her dad died and she had to help keep the family together, but that means she never makes much money. There’s only a little dry cereal left, so you give it to your sister and take her to the neighbor who will walk her to school. You walk a mile to the bus stop because funding cuts took away the school bus. On the city bus, the other kids make fun of you because you smell. You smell because the laundry is three blocks away, and also there was no money for it this week because your sister got a bad ear infection and had to go to the doctor. The bus gets stuck in traffic, so you’re too late to school for the free breakfast, so you are hungry, and you’re tired because one of the neighbors deci...

ded to start firing a gun and your mom made you and your sister sleep on the floor in case bullet came through the wall. Lunch will be your only real meal of the day, but it’s so embarrassing to have to show the free lunch card. Your mom keeps saying that they’re going to cut the lunch program, and you wonder what you’ll do then. After school, you work at a grocery store to try and help the family, but part of your earnings have to go to pay the neighbor who watches your sister. Your boss gives you some fruit and vegetables that he was going to throw out, so that is dinner because your mom doesn’t get paid until tomorrow. Because you worked after school, you have to stay up late to get your homework done, which is hard because the neighbor is yelling again, and you’re hungry, and you’re tired. You don’t have a computer, so you’ll have to get up extra early the next morning to get to school to use the old one in the library, because your teacher insists that you can’t turn in handwritten work. You wonder if you’ll ever be able to go to college. You wonder if your life will always be this hard.

 

Jesus said that it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get to heaven.  The Bible also says, "There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land." 

 

Christians...need to act like Christ.