Reflections and Ramblings--Assistant Minister Pastor Dan Wilkie  

          I received this email the other day titled “Even A Child Understands” and it went something like this: A small girl was walking home from swimming when she saw a homeless man on the street. Noticing his hungry look, his ragged clothes, and his carrying a large piece of cardboard for a shelter, she turned to her mother and said “We need to do something to help him. Why don’t we take the money we earn from selling the stuff in our garden and give it to him to help him."           Overhearing this conversation, a man stopped them and said to the little girl and her mom, “That might certainly be one way to help, but does it really help him? I think it would be better if rather than giving him money for doing nothing, you hired him to come and work in your garden and then paid him for doing the work.” After thinking about it a while the little girl looked at her mom and said “The man was probably right. After all, I don’t get my allowance if my chores are not done.” The caption to the story suggested that members of one political party think one way, and members of the other party think completely differently.
          As I read this story, I couldn’t help but get the point the writer was trying to make, a point which does indeed ring true for many people. Then I read an article in the newsletter I receive from La Puente (the ecumenical assistance center in Alamosa) which was written by a young woman, who, two years earlier, had been a center volunteer, and who was now a paid staff member. She wrote about a young immigrant family she had assisted who had recently moved back to the area from Pueblo. The mother and father had both lost their jobs, and finding nothing else in Pueblo, they decided to move back to Alamosa where they had a large network of friends and where they had a chance to get a good job. When they arrived back in Alamosa the mother was hired to work in a business, and proved to be such a valuable employee she was promoted to a management position within the first week. However, her husband found not only his work prospects to be much less but found he was also losing his eyesight. He needed his wife’s assistance to be able to receive the training necessary in order to live with this new challenge, and to be able to help provide and care for his young family.
          The point to all this is that nothing is ever in black and white, and we cannot judge people simply because they are homeless, or immigrants in a new land. Most folks who find themselves in situations like the homeless man or the young immigrant couple do not want to be where they are. They want something different, and often find that they need assistance to lead the productive lives they greatly desire.
          So with all of the needs of so many in our community, our nation and around the world, I pray that we look past labels like liberal or conservative; that we put aside party lines and political divisiveness; that instead of judging others by what we perceive them to be, we earnestly seek to see each other as brothers and sisters, each with a face, a name, and a story. And in doing so, may we earnestly seek to live the lives Christ calls us to live, lives filled with compassion and love for all.     Blessings, Dan

  Modulations
           I urge all our Board members to mark Aug. 17th on your calendars. In August, we’ll be having a training session for all with lunch--a longer day, but a good time for launching the busy Church year. I’ll see you there. Brian, Moderator