Tuesday Ramble, preaching to myself !

The house is quiet. Emery is off to Casi and Melanie's house to help Casi fix a flat tire. Poor kid, what a way to start the day. The sky is neither blue or gray, but a morning mix that comes just before the sun comes up. Its summer morning hot, never having cooled down last night. The weather shows 100 degrees each and every day this week. I am sick of summer, everyone seems to be. But we have all of August to go and some of September before we see any sign of change.

They were talking on the news about the rate of increase for food yesterday. In just the last year things have risen between 5-10% and they expect the same kind of increase for next year. Its the same for feed for the animals. In May I paid $12.59 for a 50 lb bag of Goat Chow, and last week I paid over $15 for the same feed. With that kind of increase you can imagine, dairy and meat will keep going up. Farmers need to recover the cost somehow. Last night I went to bed wondering if at these prices, its worth keeping any goats. If feed keeps going up, people will be trying to get rid of lots of livestock.

Things seem to be a real mess right now with the economy. I keep thinking about the folks that make minimum wage...gas is nearly $4 a gallon, winter heating bills will be astronomical, food keeps going up, even Kraft Mac and Cheese is going to go up in price. Health care is outrageous and on and on. My heart aches for those working hard and making little. Sure, Emery and I have money enough to pay for things so we could just bury our heads in the sand, not watch the news, just say things like," Its not my problem" or "that is just too depressing to think about" or even be so bold as to think God is not asking us to help, since we can afford what we want, but that is in my thinking, hardhearted and apathetic ! There is no compassion in chosen ignorance or in turning a blind eye to suffering. It becomes something along the lines of self-centeredness when we live only unto ourselves. I understand that it is a struggle to live to ease the suffering of others and not just consider that perhaps we are blessed more than others and then go on living better, buying more etc, without ever helping those around us or helping only those we think deserves it or only the ones we like, maybe even only helping those that believe like we do. I love the very open hearted wisdom in the Bible in regard to the poor and needy. The instructions are clear in regard to the poor and its not a requirement that the poor be smart with the money they have or how many opportunities they have available in order to be helped, there was no stipulation that they be this or that in order to qualify to be helped.

Deut 15: 10 Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. 11 There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your

brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.

Luke 12:32 "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

It takes so much compassion to look beyond what we want or feel we deserve in order to help those in need. With the economy the way it is, I believe our opportunities will be increasing to do good. To reach beyond our wants and see the needs of others. Pay for the groceries of the struggling mother in line at the store instead of buying that new whatever you have been dreaming about. For me, its forgetting about wanting more fabric, a new dress or whatever. Pay for some elderly persons $4 prescription instead of buying something you really don't need. You might just be stopping someones tears or making the difference between having a meal or not having a meal. You don't have to know the person or size up if you think they are deserving.

I am seriously thinking that having my goats is money I could more wisely use in reducing the suffering of another human. I suspect I would get more pleasure out of spending that money on helping others than on visiting with my goats twice a day. My goal as a human being is to become more aware of others sufferings and not just think about it, but to do something. Not beat my chest and say, "look at how successful and blessed I am, this economy is not hurting me any more than a flea bit would." I want to be better than that.

I like what Buddha said....“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.”

"True compassion is not just an emotional response but a firm commitment founded on reason. Therefore, a truly compassionate attitude towards others does not change even if they behave negatively. Genuine compassion is based not on our own projections and expectations, but rather on the needs of the other..." The dalai Lama

In the news today....... Wachovia has $8.9B loss, cuts 6,350 jobs, dividend