Blog Action Day

Today is Blog Action Day.
A bunch of bloggers get together and all blog on the same topic which happens to be poverty.

Wow, that is a big topic.
I had thought that it would be easy at first. You know, poverty is bad, pitch in money where you can and we will all feel better.
Isn't that a band aid on a gash. Yeah you can stop some blood but it will still keep pouring through the rest of the wound. I really started to think how can I as one person truly help all the poverty stricken people in the world. In truth I can't. I would love to. I just do not have the means open to me. I see the people on television asking for money so that they can give the poor shoes, water, food, shelter and do we know that the money we donate to them really does go there to do the things they promise? I hope my money does not go in vain but do I truly know? Am I actually helping others?

Pictures like this just tug at my heart. I know how lucky I am to have all that I have and I will be the first one to tell you I thank God for these blessings everyday! I can't just take and not give back that would not be right. I think that for myself and my family I try to buy products that have the fair trade emblems on them, even though they are a bit more expensive. I feel better that I can help give someone a better life by having them earn what is fair and due to them and giving them pride at the same time.We play the free rice game(there is a tab to get there down on the right). We enrich our vocabulary while we help to give bowls of rice to those who are less fortunate. We give food to our local food bank. This way the local poor can eat and our community is the better for it. We also recycle things that we don't use anymore. I do recycle paper and glass and stuff but I mean clothing, toys, appliances. We donate things that are still of use to the organizations that will sell them to the less fortunate for a small price. Again I think that pride is involved there. They can say that they bought the Abercrombie sweatshirt and know that they did. To be able to buy nice things at an affordable price is good as well. We also donate things to a church group that gives away to the poor first before selling the rest. People pay what they can afford and if that means with a smile then so be it.

These people with the signs just off the freeway and on major corners are hard for me.I know that half of them are fake. They use the money you give for things other than food. I have given them food or coupons for McDonald's before and had them roll their eyes at me and say things like "is that all?" or "great, I thought you were going to give me some money". This is the reason why people don't want to give to people who need help. We don't know why these people are out on the street. They all have a reason. They all have a story. The ones that are truly there and need help are injured by the cruel who imitate them for their own selfish and lazy reasons. Since I can't tell the difference, being a mere human being, have been relying on the still small voice inside me to help me help those who are in need. Lord forgive me when I have been wrong and gone past the soul that was crying out. If I can help, I do try.

I have been reminding my self of 2 bible verses when I see the homeless lately:

Luke 3:11 “John answered, ‘the man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.’"

Isaiah 58:10 "And if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday."

So I still give.
I give with my whole heart.
I hope.
I hope that I can make a difference, even a small one.
I pray.
I pray that the whole world will do the same.
What a wonderful place the world could be then.

I hope that the whole world will be covered in light like noonday, someday, soon.