The Not Vanity Reflection
I'm slow at posting these reflections, but I will not quit. It's been an insane week - flew to Boston for 2 days for work and squeezed in some friend time, then the in-laws have been here since Thursday. Randomly Amy and Gary's friends let them use their beachy condo for the weekend, and we got to crash it on Saturday. They have a boat, and a jet ski, and just generally it's awesome. We spent the weekend with 70% of my immediate family in a gorgeous beach setting. What's not to love?
Today's homily was something about water. Seriously, I had one of those days where I went to church, but I wasn't really there. Ya know? I could NOT follow the homily, and I was just checking the boxes for the rest of it. But at least I went, and I'm hoping there's some value in that even if it doesn't seem so right now.
I've been stewing on this reflection for a couple days, waiting for the opportunity to put thoughts to keyboard. Unfortunately, I've had 2 glasses of wine and don't think I can do my original topic justice, so I'm going to go for another one entirely.
Have you ever seen the Secret Millionaire? This rich guy goes out and lives the slum life and gives money to people who do good works in this adverse setting. The question that was raised is "How do you control what they spend that money on?" and the answer is obviously "You have to trust them." But trust in this situation is a fickle thing. I rarely give money to bums on the street because I judge them. I assume that they will not spend the money that I give them in a manner which I would approve. On one hand, that's pretty crappy of me and not Christian at all. It's not my job to judge. On the other hand, God gave me a brain, and that brain says that some people are more effective at money management than others so I should distribute my money so that it does the most good. And that's generally what I do. I've narrowed my charitable giving down to 2 main charities: Catholic Relief Services (which fulfills both the need to support faith based missions as well as global charity), and a local food bank. (Ok, I haven't donated anything to a Florida yet) I give money on an individual basis as things arise during the year, but mainly that's to show my friends that I support things that they support. Um, totally sounds like I'm disregarding my judgey non-Christian side, and I am. I'll have to settle that account later.
And maybe I should reflect on my judgeyness. Because really, that is not a nice side of me and it could use some exposure.
Today's homily was something about water. Seriously, I had one of those days where I went to church, but I wasn't really there. Ya know? I could NOT follow the homily, and I was just checking the boxes for the rest of it. But at least I went, and I'm hoping there's some value in that even if it doesn't seem so right now.
I've been stewing on this reflection for a couple days, waiting for the opportunity to put thoughts to keyboard. Unfortunately, I've had 2 glasses of wine and don't think I can do my original topic justice, so I'm going to go for another one entirely.
Have you ever seen the Secret Millionaire? This rich guy goes out and lives the slum life and gives money to people who do good works in this adverse setting. The question that was raised is "How do you control what they spend that money on?" and the answer is obviously "You have to trust them." But trust in this situation is a fickle thing. I rarely give money to bums on the street because I judge them. I assume that they will not spend the money that I give them in a manner which I would approve. On one hand, that's pretty crappy of me and not Christian at all. It's not my job to judge. On the other hand, God gave me a brain, and that brain says that some people are more effective at money management than others so I should distribute my money so that it does the most good. And that's generally what I do. I've narrowed my charitable giving down to 2 main charities: Catholic Relief Services (which fulfills both the need to support faith based missions as well as global charity), and a local food bank. (Ok, I haven't donated anything to a Florida yet) I give money on an individual basis as things arise during the year, but mainly that's to show my friends that I support things that they support. Um, totally sounds like I'm disregarding my judgey non-Christian side, and I am. I'll have to settle that account later.
And maybe I should reflect on my judgeyness. Because really, that is not a nice side of me and it could use some exposure.
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