Give Your Possessions to the Poor and Drink the Best Wine First

Those two sayings sum up the life of following Jesus.  Jesus told a young rich man who wanted to follow him, to sell all his possessions and give the proceeds to the poor.  Why did he say that?

First, because the poor needed it.  The rich man wanted to sign up to assist Jesus in his mission, part of which was to proclaim good news to the poor.  Think about that–if you are poor, what better news could there be?

“Some Wall Street wizard cashed in all his chips just before the crash–and he wants you to have the profits.”

Second, the young man’s possessions were dragging him down. What Jesus was really saying to him was

“Right here and now, I’m setting you free.  You don’t need all that.  Let it go.”

The second saying, “Drink the best wine first” wasn’t said by Jesus; it was said about him.  Jesus attended a wedding, maybe of one of his sisters, and when they ran out of beverage, he turned water in to wine.  If you’ve ever been to a wedding, no doubt you heard the preacher say, “Our Lord adorned this manner of life with his presence and first miracle at a wedding in Cana of Galilee. ”

The caterer said, “Woah!–everybody else serves the best wine first, but you saved the best wine for last.”

I’m not a connoisseur of wine–I didn’t grow up in California or France–I grew up in Carrie Nation territory; but I take turning water into wine as a metaphor.  Jesus wants us to enjoy life.  His presence is a celebration.  He didn’t tell people to give up their possessions because he wanted them to live an austere, ascetic existence.

He knew that possessions can possess us and keep us from enjoying life to its fullest.

Small Steps

What can one person do? I don’t have any delusions that I can change the world. What I can do is make small choices every day that allow me to live with my conscience. I can take small steps in the direction of the change I would like to see. I don’t have to be perfect, I don’t have to do everything, I just have to do something.

Due to financial constraints, I don’t have the most fuel-efficient vehicle possible. That’s not all, I have to commute to work. So I do what I can. I walk to the local grocery store, bank, post office, etc. I try to limit my driving, as far as possible to my daily commute to work.

A couple years ago I came up with a plan to cut my commute in half by loading a bike in my car and parking and riding the last half of the way. The first day I tried it, it worked fine. The second day I saw one of my neighbors walking and stopped to give him a ride. We ended up car pooling for the next two years; so I still effectively cut my fuel-consumption per person in half.

Some young people who live under the medieval law of the oil kingdoms are speaking out online. Look at these sites: Improvisations and Saudi Jeans. Maybe they will make a difference.

My daughter sent me a notice of a small step we can all take to do something about poverty:

Hello!

Hi!

I just made a loan to someone in the developing world using a revolutionary new website called Kiva.

You can go to Kiva’s website and lend to someone in the developing world who needs a loan for their business – like raising goats, selling vegetables at market or making bricks. Each loan has a picture of the entrepreneur, a description of their business and how they plan to use the loan so you know exactly how your money is being spent – and you get updates letting you know how the business is going. The best part is, when the entrepreneur pays back their loan you get your money back – and Kiva’s loans are managed by microfinance institutions on the ground who have a lot of experience doing this, so you can trust that your money is being handled responsibly.

I just made a loan to an entrepreneur named Hayom Ayomov in Tajikistan. They still need another $625.00 to complete their loan request of $725.00 (you can loan as little as $25.00!). Help me get this business off the ground by clicking on the link below to make a loan to Hayom Ayomov too:

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=26329&_isc=c4eb211c-f844-102a-bc82-f9ce1a1a31a9

It’s finally easy to actually do something about poverty – using Kiva I know exactly who my money is loaned to and what they’re using it for. And most of all, I know that I’m helping them build a sustainable business that will provide income to feed, clothe, house and educate their family long after my loan is paid back.

Join me in changing the world – one loan at a time.

Thanks!

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What others are saying about www.Kiva.org:’Revolutionising how donors and lenders in the US are connecting with small entrepreneurs in developing countries.’
— BBC

‘If you’ve got 25 bucks, a PC and a PayPal account, you’ve now got the wherewithal to be an international financier.’
— CNN Money

‘Smaller investors can make loans of as little as $25 to specific individual entrepreneurs through a service launched last fall by Kiva.org.’
— The Wall Street Journal

‘An inexpensive feel-good investment opportunity…All loaned funds go directly to the applicants, and most loans are repaid in full.’
— Entrepreneur Magazine