Dear Reader:

Isn’t it interesting to see how the pendulum swings from social change and mores between gathering and scattering?

In the sixties we saw a movement (hippie/flower children) to eradicate war, live and love simply in a type of socialistic commune environment. Everyone would live together, work together (some cases love together) sharing food, clothing and shelter.

By the 80’s big corporations and greed dominated the new “yuppy”generation. The new rules of society had shifted to climbing the corporate ladder, as fast as you could, while stepping over others to get ahead. In 1987 the movie Wall Street became synonymous with the word “greed”… The infamous line by Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) started being repeated over and over by big business proudly.

Gordon Gekko: The point is ladies and gentlemen that greed, for lack of a better word, is good.

Today that 1% of the rich and powerful Gekko boasted about back in the eighties’ Wall Street movie has continued to grow stronger….now controlling much more than fifty percent of the country’s wealth. The middle class is quickly disappearing from the horizon and poverty is higher than ever.

It goes back to the idea of gathering and scattering….when we go through “gathering” economic periods whereas the focus of life is getting more of everything for yourself as fast as you can, for as long as you can, economic upheavals magnify.

This earth was created to be shared by its inhabitants….not dominated by a few. We were to scatter the seeds and share the produce. If you are like me, on a “down” day, you might wonder how God can watch children suffering from lack of the basic necessities of life? Where is God in all this?

It is then I have to remind myself that God is not the problem…we are. We have everything we need on earth for everybody to have enough to eat, drink, wear, and live.

Relief organizations and government agencies agree that there is plenty of food in the world to feed everyone. The problem is not a lack of food but a lack of accessibility to the food. With enough food in the world to feed the entire population, the fault does not lie with God. Rather, the fault lies with the corrupt nature of man. Instead of acting as trustworthy stewards of the world’s resources, nations and individuals often hoard food, mismanage resources, and squander money instead of seeing that people are fed.

When I first read the words on this poster by Anne Herbert I had to pause and examine them.: “Do less; have less; be more.”  After pondering for a few minutes I think I got it…at least my interpretation.

We need to “do less” in terms of everyday self-absorbed busyness, “have less“… by being content with what we do have, and “be more”  to others we meet along our path through life.

This short little video (3 min) on children’s responses to world hunger really moved me. Out of the mouths of babes…

Kids Respond to Child Hunger – YouTube

So until tomorrow…Let us remember that life “isn’t about me” but about how I interact with the rest of the world’s “me’s (others) to scatter the abundance of goods given to all of us on God’s good earth.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* While at Dollar General I found a few little decorative garden items that I added to the deck…they might not have the same longevity as the little statues at nurseries but hey, if we are living for the moment….I can get at least four replacements and still be under the nursery garden costs. (one snail and two birds of “scripture.”)