Our Possessions and our Responsiblity to Others

            We lost our little dog Gracie recently.  She had been declining for some time; we took her to the vet several times and gave her the medication that was prescribed.  Last Saturday night, she was unable to move her back legs, she lay on the floor panting, obviously in pain.  We looked at her and knew that we couldn’t simply let her lie there; that we had to do something about it.  We called the veterinarian and took her there.  We held her as they gave her an injection that put her to sleep.  It was a hard thing for us to do, we loved her dearly; but it was necessary.  Suffering is not something that I wanted for that little dog.  We owed her that much.

            Most of us have had moments like that in our lives; times when we have had to let go of those whom we loved.  Generally we have no choice in the matter.  Both Rosie and I have lost our parents and our grandparents and our uncles and aunts.  A dear friend of ours lost his daughter also recently..  Life is beautiful, but it has an end date.  We all know that.  It is necessary to live our lives with that in mind.

            Jesus was asked by a man to tell his brother to share his inheritance with him.  Jesus replied with a statement that said that he should take care and not let his life be ruled by his possessions.  He followed that with a parable about a rich man whose land produced in abundance.  He said:  What shall I do?  I shall pull down my barns and build larger ones so that I can store my crops.  God said to him, you Fool!  This night your life will be required of you.  We need to be very careful.  Our lives are not about our things and the wealth that we have accumulated.  We live our lives in the sight of God, with all of the ways that our God has given us to live.  We are asked to take care of one another; to love each other and our neighbor with the same Love that God has lavished on us.  Our possessions are simply tools to be used in the living of our lives and the exercise of that love.

            When I look around this world, I don’t see much of that being done.  I see great divisions in our political parties; all of them trying to accumulate the wealth that they need to meet their needs.  I hear terrible things coming out of the mouths of these leaders and I worry where their anger will take us.  This nation needs to have deep concern for those who are poor, outcast, without means to take care of themselves.  We can’t simply build bigger barns to store our wealth.  We need to use the great resources that we have been given by our God to take care of God’s people who are in need.

            I am discouraged by our current political situation.  We can make jokes about Donald Trump’s wild statements or about Hilary Clinton’s baggage; but ultimately we need to decide what is right for the good of this country and beyond that for the good of the world.  We are not the only ones who live here.  There are countless refugees from places where there is great distress; there are many immigrants who have come to our country who want nothing more than to live healthy lives.  I know that God loves all of these people and demands from us that we open our eyes to see the hurt and the devastation around us. 

            It is not necessary that we live lives of fear.  Those who wish us ill are certainly not a majority and with the help of our God can be managed.  We will find ways to do that.  We need to curb the anger that exists among us, pitting people of color against our police, and people of means against those who are poor so that we can all move ahead together.  Whatever we need to do that well is what our government needs to provide.  Shouting damning statements back and forth is certainly not the answer.  It was great to see the police and the black lives matter group gathered in Dallas to mourn the lives of the officers who died and to support each other in their common grief.  That is the way forward.

            We will bury the ashes of our little dog and cry our tears of grief and then we will get on with our lives and try to make those lives of ours count in the greater plan that our God has for this universe.  Let us continue to love and comfort each other and be the angels that God intends us to be for the good of the earth.