Remember-we have noon workshops each day. Wednesday at Wesley is Alabama Possible and Thursday is Hale County Habitat at St. Dunstans Episcopal Church. See the Poverty Awareness Page for more info. And, kids can come paint on the box!
This blog is actually covering two days…time does seem to escape me. First a shout out to all the meals-yet again, very blessed! Last night was Veggies To Go with Angie and it was amazing! I love that place. Jennifer and Evan brought Hardees biscuits which really hit the spot! Lunch with the students always a blessing-and then came the crème de le crème-the Stevens! Randy, Patrick, and Emma brought a table and picnic dinner with roast beef, veggies, rice, and bread! Wow-we topped the night with some smores by the fire! Talk about hospitality!
Our big excitement was Halloween night getting to hand out candy to all the trick-or-treaters! They were so much fun with their costumes. I was tickled at the very little ones not sure how this “trick or treat†thing really worked. But, to see their big smiles and laughter dance in their eyes was enough. They melted my heart and it was just a pleasure to be with them all-by far one of the best Halloween’s ever!
But, there are always the tricks and the pranks that may come. I went to sleep warm in my heart, warm in my sleeping bag, having enjoyed a big fire and lots of fun. I made the mistake of not moving my fire pit and leaving it in front of the shack somewhat exposed to the road. When I awoke this morning-my fire pit had grown legs and walked away. I sort of just looked at the area where it was supposed to be thinking-that was my source of heat…how will I get warm this morning? Forty degrees is not exactly warm…I was disappointed and perplexed all at the same time.
So, begs the question…why would anyone steal my fire pit? Was it a prank and maybe will return? Was it to “scrap†as metal in a tough economy? Or maybe someone has been cold and thought it might warm them as well? Whatever the answer… it still frustrated me. And…did they not know that that was really my only way I was getting warm? Did they know the conversations held around that fire? The smores I had promised to make? Did they know and did they care?
It does not matter. What I can say is that this is not new to us. We find poor families ripped off and taken advantage of all the time. They are easy targets for someone taking their last possession or preying on their trust that people will do the right thing. Ms. Betty lives on her Social Security of $700/month. She saved up enough money to pay for repairs for her roof to be done. The “contractor†said she would need to pay him up front so that he could purchase the materials. This seemed fair to her so she gave him all of it. He did go and purchase several bundles of shingles. But after laying all the felt and about 5 courses of uneven and improperly placed shingles, he left and never came back. He left Ms. Betty in a worse situation than she was already in. We hear about these unscrupulous contractors and builders exploiting the poor and elderly in nearly every case we run across.
I have been reading through the prophet Micah over the past week. Micah has a scathing warning to the Israelite community for taking advantage of the poor and exploiting the weak-that was their downfall! They forgot their God and they forgot their neighbor! We would do well to reread these passages from the perspective of our community, church, and even country. Our tendency is to read and apply them at purely an individual level. The danger is that it is easy for us to dismiss any idea that “individually†we exploit the poor yet when we look at what we do as society-these scriptures are a scathing reminder of where we fall short. We are responsible for the laws in our land so when unjust laws are passed and enforced, who’s at fault? We are. We should hold those accountable who use people to line their pockets and justify their business. And as business owners, we are called to insure we are not practicing forms of oppression. For God hears the cry of the needy as much now as He did when the Israelites were oppressed by the Egyptians.
There is my soap box. And it was reinforced as we listened to the presenters from HERO (Hale Empowerment Organization) today discuss the continued “aristocracy†of “old money†in the South that refuses to allow for progression-at least progression for minorities. Yes, it still exists and many of these same people sit in church every Sunday justifying themselves…judgmental on my part…possibly…prophetic on Micah’s part-no shame there…It’s time to take a litmus test of our community, church, and country and see where we stand in light of God’s ideal of justice and righteousness. All that because my fire pit was stolen. Not really-more because of Ms. Dozier who does not have the options that I have and any injustice done to her spirals her down further into poverty. Fortunately, she has a wonderful spirit and heart and believes in the love and mercy of Jesus…if we can only get to her home fast enough…you can help!
Thanks for your love-we are above $5500 and I’ll have a new total in the morning.
Blessings!
lisa
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