"Has not God chosen the poor in the world...to be heirs of the Kingdom?" - from James 2:1-7
A thought from today's Trek card:
Life has a material base. The "first set" of things we need to survive -- food, clothing and shelter -- are absolutely essential. In Matthew 6, Jesus told his disciples God knows we need these things, that we can pray to God for these things, and that God will provide them for us.
In the Lord's Prayer, we ask for daily bread. And for most of us, we know without a doubt that we shall have it. For others in the world, this is not the case.
The average annual household income in Nigeria, Syria, India, Bangladesh, Kenya, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Afghanistan and dozens of other countries is less than $2,000. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, under $500. I can only imagine how often people pray for daily bread from a place of real need. By contrast,the average household income in the US last year was approximately $90,000. Given the great wealth of our nation, why are so many of us still stressed about money? Why do we worry so much about what we will eat, what we will drink, and what we will wear?
Even in the US, the distribution of wealth is so dramatically uneven that the income of the top 1% of households was more than $475,000 last year, while half of US citizens made roughly one tenth of that. The bottom 20% of households, about $22,000. With such wild disparity in the distribution of wealth, we struggle to define terms like poor, rich, and economically secure. How much is enough?
Questions for Today
How often do I worry about what I will eat, drink or wear?
How often do I worry about bills not related to these essentials?
How might I change my perspective on my finances by focusing on my experiences of provision and abundance rather than wants?
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