Friday, July 1, 2016
I saw a small but interesting article in yesterday’s newspaper about a local man who donated an inflatable pool to a family on San Antonio’s West side after seeing Facebook comments of people making fun of them. Pictures were posted of their makeshift swimming pool consisting of a tarp on the bed of their truck. He was so troubled by the cruel Facebook comments that he also created a “GoFundMe” campaign which raised 1200 dollars in 24 hours. He has since donated 3 weeks of his vacation to go distribute pools to other families around the city. One of those who commented said that only on the Westside do you see “stuff” like this. Apparently the person who made this Facebook comment doesn’t know or has forgotten the pictures on the internet of Walmart shoppers, Redneck weddings, trailer camp scenes, etc.
To be fair with the person making that particular comment, I think we’ve all poked fun, perhaps sometimes not realizing it, at folks who build makeshift projects or “make do” with the resources available to them. If, on the other hand, the person who made that disparaging comment was motivated by simple meanness, that’s another issue altogether. Proverbs 17:5 reads: “Those who mock the poor insult their Maker.” (God)
As far as the family enjoying a cool dip on the bed of their truck is concerned, I bet many of you can relate to them. I know I can. I bet some of you can remember with fondness cooling off and having loads of fun on out on the yard on a hot summer day with just a water hose, or playing out in the street, even if you didn’t have a football, baseball, soccer ball etc. In my childhood days we didn’t have any toys but we had great fun kicking a can out in the street with small rocks inside or playing with a ball made out of rags inside an old sock. My favorite pastime as a kid was playing football on our wooden floor with a nickel and a pencil. Each plank represented 5 yards. That often kept me entertained for hours. And I bet some of you parents can remember buying your kids that special toy they cried for only to find them playing more with a stick or a box. The point is that people don’t need “things” in order to be happy. In fact, I bet poor folks or people just like you and me are generally happier than most multimillionaires. In fact, because we are in Christ, do we really need anything else? It is no wonder, then, why David wrote: “Happy are the people whose God is the Lord.” (Psalm 144:15)
Memory verse for the week: (Romans 1:20) “For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.”
