food for thought

Many of you have asked about the police man....no he hasn't come yet :/ booooooo
I'm reading a few books right now, but I'd like to share a little bit about one in particular. This is for "churchies" and "non-churchies." So don't stop after you read the title of the book!

I'm reading Philip Yancey's "The Jesus I Never Knew." In his chapter on the Beatitudes, he lists Monika Hellwig's "advantages" to being poor:

1. The poor know they are in urgent need of redemption.
2. The poor know not only their dependence on God and on powerful people but also their interdependence with one another.
3. The poor rest their security not on things but on people.
4. The poor have no exaggerated sense of their own importance, and no exaggerated need of privacy.
5. The poor expect little from competition and much from cooperation.
6. The poor can distinguish between necessities and luxuries.
7. The poor can wait, because they have acquired a kind of dogged patience born of acknowledged dependence.
8. The fears of the poor are more realistic and less exaggerated, because they already know that one can survive great suffering and want.
9. When the poor have the Gospel preached to them, it sounds like good news and not like a threat or a scolding.
10. The poor can respond to the call of the Gospel with a certain abandonment and uncomplicated totality because they have so little to lose and are ready for anything.

I love how Yancey sums this up. He says "[...] poor people find themselves in a posture that befits the grace of God. In their state of neediness, dependence, and dissatisfaction with life, they may welcome Gods' free gift of love." NOW try to substitute the word RICH for poor.

Next, he asked himself if his own attitudes more resembled those of the poor or of the rich. I challenge you to question yourself as well.

1. Do I easily acknowledge my needs?
2. Do I readily depend on God and on other people?
3. Where does my security rest?
4. Am I more likely to compete or cooperate?
5. Can I distinguish between necessities and luxuries?
6. Am I patient?
7. Do the Beatitudes sound to me like good news or like a scolding?

Finally, he states “Dependence, humility, simplicity, cooperation, and a sense of abandon are qualities greatly prized in the spiritual life, but extremely elusive for people who live in comfort.”

Be blessed today! P.S. This beautiful picture was taken with the awesome camera my small group gave to me as a going away gift! Love you guys XOXO the flower is about the size of my thumbnail!!