Tiny Devotional for Friday, 12-18-2020

 A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, let us rejoice in the life we have been given!

A poor person utters pleadings,
But a rich person answers defiantly.
Proverbs 18:23, NASB

 Bible verses about the rich are often rebukes for uncaring and/or greedy behavior. There are exceptions, and this is one of them.

Up until my late 20s, I was confused; I thought poverty was a virtue. I didn’t see that possessions are neither good nor bad; they’re just tools; it’s how I use them that is good or bad.
Eventually, I learned the resource adults struggle for isn’t money; it’s power. Money is just how we keep score.

That point is deftly made by this verse.

Waffle House is my favorite restaurant in the world. One morning, I noticed my waitress quietly go about her work, while one of the cooks kept picking at her. 
She ignored him. She had to! People were depending on her income (I saw her children). She kept her mouth shut, went about her work, and ignored the heckling. 
She COULDN’T answer the cook defiantly, because she wasn’t rich; she had no power.
I left her a big tip, when what I really wanted was to smack the cook.

Historically, the sure path out of poverty has been education. White collar, management, and professional careers required college degrees, and guaranteed a move from the dirt road to the burbs. Even if not rich in MONEY, you could be rich in OPTIONS, you could answer the abusive boss defiantly.

Today, I think that path to options is rocky, if not impassable. Mike Rowe thinks so as well, and he is doing THIS about it


Peace be on your household.


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