We live in a “gain all you can and get ahead” society.  We are raised to be all we can be, which in our society is translated, “do whatever it takes” to “gain all you can and get ahead.”  We are encouraged to play by the rules and always strive to win.  We are bummed out when we lose.  We are so bummed out that, at times, we “do whatever it takes to win” including breaking the rules, if necessary, in order to win.

Sadly, this “gain all you can and get ahead” mentality, has resulted in us seeing ourselves and others as winners or losers.  Those in our society that have not played the “gain all you can and get ahead” game well are looked at as losers.  Some of those losers have played the game so poorly that they are not able to take care of their basic needs:  food, clothing and shelter.  Well, you and I know if they only tried hard enough like we did, they would be able to take care of themselves and not be dependent on others.   After all, we have worked hard and managed to successfully play the game of “gain all you can and get ahead.”   In fact, we have played well enough to be able to take care of our basic needs of food, clothing, shelter, have lots of stuff and store some extra away for a rainy day.  Certainly, we are winners!

We watch hours and hours of television and are presented with a world which expands the definition of successfully playing the game of “gain all you can and get ahead.”  Commercials bombard us with new ideas on more stuff to buy that will confirm our position as winners.  We have bought into the concept that the more stuff we have, the higher we move into the winner category.  The higher we are in the winner category gives us status and separates us further from being losers.

No wonder we find it hard to make sense out of the Gospel.  It teaches us to do all we can to help others. Not just the others that have our approval, those we know tried hard, had some tough breaks and deserve to be helped.  The Good News teaches us that there is more than enough to go around, if we would just invest ourselves in sharing what we have.  I think of Matthew’s version of feeding the five thousand with five loaves and two fishes that the little boy had brought with him and was willing to share.  I wonder if the miracle in that story is not that all those people were fed with that little bit of food.  Think about it, certainly most of those people that were following Jesus were winners, and had come prepared with food and everything else they needed for their journey and more.  When asked if they had food to share their answer was “NO.”   When through faith Jesus blessed what was there and had the disciples share it, of course there was food for all and twelve baskets to spare.

I wonder what would happen if we were as willing to share as that little boy.

God Bless,

Jim