Consider this

           A friend of mine, who had just gone through a life changing tragedy said, “I knew it was coming, but I had no idea how bad it would feel!”            That is the issue, isn’t it?   The feelings we go through are often the hardest part of the journey.   Most things are not unbearable.   I mean, in a physical sense, if you had to get out of bed and face the day you probably could.   It is the “feeling” that we can’t face a certain issue or event that makes it difficult.             To make matters worse, places that should acknowledge those feelings and help us deal with them often do not.   Take church for example.   Churches should be full of people who are there for one another and who are ready to listen and “bear one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2).   Too often, though, we dress up and act as if nothing is happening in our life (whether good or bad).   “How are you today?” always gets the same response, “I am fine!” whether that is true or not.           

On May 26th, at 4:30am, Harrison Okene, a cook on a tugboat off the coast of Nigeria heard a loud noise and thought, “That didn’t sound good!” Within minutes, the choppy, storm-filled waters of the Atlantic Ocean began filling the vessel. Knowing that the tugboat was sinking, some of Okene’s crewmates headed for the escape hatch. When they opened it, water rushed in and swept the men into the sea. The on-coming water also washed Okene back into the boat. In the darkness, he found his way to the officer’s washroom and for the next few hours stood there holding onto the overhead light fixture to keep his head out of the rising waters. When it was clear that this was no longer a safe place, he moved to another room and found another pocket of air. Trapped 30 meters (or about 100 feet) below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean, Okene sat on a mattress in the dark and waited. A half of a day passed. Twenty-four hours later, he was still sitting in the boat at the bottom of the sea.

            A week ago, a friend of mine who lives and works in North Central Regina came to our church to talk about the needs that he sees every day.   It was interesting and sparked a lot of discussion about poverty and what we could do to help change things.             Two days later, my mailbox was flooded with “Black Friday” ads and sales on hundreds of things that I don’t really need.   As I write this it is “Cyber Monday” (the online equivalent of “Black Friday”) and there are even more deals to be found.             So what do you do?   I mean, on one hand there are people all over the place who are barely scraping by and on the other hand I am looking at a new welder and thinking “I really need that!”    How much should I give away and how much should I keep?   Where does my responsibility to look after myself cross the line and become “greed”?    Questions like that keep coming and there are no easy answers (at least none that are helpful).             In 1 Timothy