Saturday, May 02, 2015
Envy - one of the 7 deadly sins
To have something I don't possess.
It's not just wanting that something, but it can be wanting YOU not to have it.
So why do so many state and national legislators, who claim to be good Christians, want to make sure that "others" don't have things like adequate food and health care?
Would Jesus tell the Apostles. Make sure the widows and orphans don't get any food because they are too young or old or lazy to deserve what we have? I don't think so.
Too lazy? Have those legislators tried to exist on the charity of others? It's not easy by any means. It's damn hard work.
I woke up at 6:00 a.m. to go to a local Methodist church food pantry. A friend of mine is in dire straights. Her husband's full paycheck this week is going to pay their rent. She was let go from her job after coming off disability. She has been unable to find another job. Her husband's job isn't enough to keep them going. She needed food. So I told her I would get her and take her to the food pantry.
To get one bag of free food she had to be up at 6:30, along with her 7 year old daughter. I had to drive her to the church (it's too far for her to walk there and back with a bag of food without my help she couldn't have gotten there, she has no working car and the buses don't run very early on Saturday). She had to stand in line and get a number, answer some personal questions about her family finances, etc. and then she was given one bag of groceries - mostly canned food, and one bag of produce. This week the produce was only tomatoes. There is also a second room that has baked goods and donated clothes and some toys for kids. Her daughter was able to get a back pack and 3 books.
Since I was in line with her they asked me if I was getting government assistance. I said I was retired and getting social security and that my husband was disabled. That qualified ME for the food too. So I took it. I don't need the food, but she does. So I gave her the food I had been given.
Maybe if the people in political office had to get their food the way she does they wouldn't begrudge the poor or people on SNAP things like potatoes and spices (as they want to do in Wisconsin).
What the legislators in Wisconsin are doing is a sin. The sin of envy, not wanting others to have what they have.
It's not just wanting that something, but it can be wanting YOU not to have it.
So why do so many state and national legislators, who claim to be good Christians, want to make sure that "others" don't have things like adequate food and health care?
Would Jesus tell the Apostles. Make sure the widows and orphans don't get any food because they are too young or old or lazy to deserve what we have? I don't think so.
Too lazy? Have those legislators tried to exist on the charity of others? It's not easy by any means. It's damn hard work.
I woke up at 6:00 a.m. to go to a local Methodist church food pantry. A friend of mine is in dire straights. Her husband's full paycheck this week is going to pay their rent. She was let go from her job after coming off disability. She has been unable to find another job. Her husband's job isn't enough to keep them going. She needed food. So I told her I would get her and take her to the food pantry.
To get one bag of free food she had to be up at 6:30, along with her 7 year old daughter. I had to drive her to the church (it's too far for her to walk there and back with a bag of food without my help she couldn't have gotten there, she has no working car and the buses don't run very early on Saturday). She had to stand in line and get a number, answer some personal questions about her family finances, etc. and then she was given one bag of groceries - mostly canned food, and one bag of produce. This week the produce was only tomatoes. There is also a second room that has baked goods and donated clothes and some toys for kids. Her daughter was able to get a back pack and 3 books.
Since I was in line with her they asked me if I was getting government assistance. I said I was retired and getting social security and that my husband was disabled. That qualified ME for the food too. So I took it. I don't need the food, but she does. So I gave her the food I had been given.
Maybe if the people in political office had to get their food the way she does they wouldn't begrudge the poor or people on SNAP things like potatoes and spices (as they want to do in Wisconsin).
What the legislators in Wisconsin are doing is a sin. The sin of envy, not wanting others to have what they have.
