Kerosene and Christmas Lights.

Zechariah 7: 9-11
This is what the LORD Almighty said: 'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.' "But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and covered their ears.

I've been thinking alot lately about what it means to truly care for the poor and oppressed. I've gone on a mission trip, volunteered at the Salvation Army, delievered groceries to the poor, elderly homebound, bought a present from the Angel Tree... These are good things but is this really caring for the poor, or is it easing my conscience and making myself think I have cared for the poor. I think that voluntering your time occasionaly is a good start and a good thing to do, but I think there is much more to caring for the poor than that. It's much easier to deliever cans to a canned food drive than invite a hungry person over for dinner. It's easy to help those in need when it doesn't interfere with your schedule or your life.

We live by several people who do not have cars. Our neighbors will often ask us for rides sometimes for legitmate reasons, others for not so legitmate reasons aka the beer store! We do not want to become the neighborhood taxi service, but discerning when you are enabling versus when you are being Christ is tough. If you don't have a car in LaGrange, like most small towns you are extremely limited in your mobility. LaGrange doesn't have public transporation so a kind neighbor or a taxi are really your only transportation options. Last night on our way to community dinner, Nu Nu, our loud obnoxious neighbor, came over needing a ride. Nu Nu is a hard neighbor to deal with most of the time. He thinks since we are the neighborhood "missionaries" we are required to "help" him with whatever he needs whenever he wants. It's really frustrating. It's easy to help those who are thankful and appreciative, it's not so easy when the recipient of your generousity is obnoxious.

Nu Nu came over and said he need to get kerosene for the heater. It was freezing outside. How could we not help. Nu Nu and Ethel live in a house that doesn't have electricity. They can't afford it. It Christmas. People everywhere are decking their houses with lights.
I love Christmas lights. They make me happy. But somehow it doesn't seem at all right that one house can spend hundreds of extra dollars on lights, decorations, and electricity, while others in the same city maybe even the same street can't afford heat. As a Christian what do I do with this? We took Ethel to filled up her kerosene jug last night. We had to wait for the guy in front of us. The guy in front of us took a taxi --- to get keresone. I guess he didn't have a neighbor that would take him. We didn't do much. I wish we could do more. But we did humaninze her situation. Ever since I haven't stop thinking about all the people that I don't know about that don't have heat.

It's hard to understand the struggles of someone living in poverty but it's even harder to not immediately judge and make assumptions as to the causes of their poverty. Sometime we may be correct in our assumptions but what good is it to be right if we don't to anything to help allievate the problem. I am beginning to understand I will never truly understand the situations of my neighbors. I was born into a completely different lifestyle. I have lived an entirely different life than most of my neighbors. However, even though I may never really understand how they got into their current situation I can humanize them and their situation by simply just being with them. Jesus was constantly surrounded by needy people. But it seems like when he was approached by someone with a need he met it. The sick he healed. The blind he restored sight. I can't do that but I can be a friend. I can be a free taxi cab. I can be a listening ear. I can be nice. It may not be much. But it's what I can do.