Sharing

In today’s industrialized world we want to escape for a better life, not realizing that love and sharing is all that we need to do and have. A life of consumption is at hand and well publicized to reach the mass population. Democracies around the world are much alike where we find the rich, the middle class and the poor.

In Quebec a social net is well in place. So now we can say that the government will take care of the poor, putting aside our personal charity. Forgetting the meaning of charity, unions or syndicates grow in popularity where solidarity is now proclaimed.  Politically from the left, the right or the center, winning votes is often a means without scruples. To me, honesty must include justice where a good life must be hopeful for all classes of people.

Governments are formed by people; there humanity may be put to test depending on their responsibilities. But charity remains an individual affair and cannot be automated by someone else. Charity cannot be a question of administration; it is a matter of conscious where each one of us must recognize oneself.

To me charity as no boundaries, it is a matter of personal love and spirituality. We live in a world of consumption and entertainment, where it is very easy to forget those that are in distress close or far away. Our conscious is so much solicited by publicity that all that seems to matter is the next best thing. We must stay alert and understand what we really need for our work or leisure time.

Entertainment can be important, like sports, arts, may it be static, energetic, creative, dreamlike or spectacular. There is a lot of talent to be shared between citizens of the modern world; but we forget our own people, those of the last rank of our society, the sick, and the lonely of different means. So many are abandoned and neglected in this fast paced world where we always look for the finer things; we even forget the existence of orphans.

How can we explain the foolishness of a world so rich that claims to be humanely concern? I remember decades ago in Quebec that we where announcing a leisure society for the future, liberty 55 was greatly publicized where 55 is the age of retirement, true for only a minority. Now retirement is push forward, 67 years old instead of 65. Retirement may be well deserved for some leisure time but there is always a possibility to help others.

The orphans are often those that we forget. We are now able to adopt babies from other countries and I do find it very admirable, but what about those around us, too old or maybe handicapped? Still a minority of people think of adopting.

The children and adults of countries or regions struck by famine count poorly when we are on a ski hill, an ice ring, or in a ball park. Restaurants are everywhere, theaters, we can wine and dine, dance and be merry. But for thousands of years, we where thought to share those riches. Is our world truly modern, what is it about our evolution?

Deuteronomy 24 (New International Version) 19 When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. 21 When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. 22 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with everyone!