Oh, the joys of those who are kind to the poor. The Lord rescues them in times of trouble. The Lord protects them and keeps them alive He gives them prosperity and rescues them from their enemies. The Lord nurses them when they are sick and eases their pain and discomfort.
Why this scripture?
I had been upset about the goings-on here at "The Warren" and needed something to get me out of my own head and to get my mind on something else. I felt like I was floundering, flailing, needing something to grasp onto so that I could stop thinking about what was going on in our lives. One would think that a person needing an escape would choose some light "beach-chair" kind of book designed to magically transport that person to anywhere other than here. Well, not this girl. I have to read something that gets my blood pumping, that gets me stirred up and mad about something other than what I'm dealing with. I guess I need somewhere to focus my anger other than at myself, my kids and my husband. So...I try to find a way to change things. If I can't change my present circumstances, I find something else to fix. Usually I rearrange furniture, but with the current configuration of the house in which we reside, that is pointless. So, I decided to get mad about poverty and the general state of the world today and to try to find a way to do something about it. "All That is Bitter and Sweet" was the catalyst for that.
I will not divulge all the details of the book, because I highly recommend the book to anyone who wants their eyes opened to the kinds of suffering Miss Judd saw while she was touring with/for Population Services International. Yes, the book is a memoir, so she reveals herself through the pages of the book, but the parts that got me the most were the stories she told of the women (and children) she encountered on her trips to Africa and Southeast Asia in brothels that sell "services" to anyone who will pay.
From here, I will direct you to Population Services International.
http://www.psi.org/
And to their blog:
http://www.psihealthylives.com/
Miss Judd's book caused me to pick up another book I had bought (this one is from last summer):
(1) When people reach out to others, it takes their minds off their own problems and puts the focus on someone else.
(2) It's more important that we find somebody to love than having somebody to love us. Because when we find somebody to love and we pour that love out on them, we're no longer victims, we're the victor.
(3) Success is not measured by the amount of people underneath you, but by the amount of people you get underneath and lift up.
Lastly, I will leave you with this to chew on...
We tend to live "backward" -- exactly opposite of the way she would live. we love for ourselves and yet we never seem to end up with what satisfies us. We should live for others and learn the wonderful secret that what we give away comes back to us multiplied many times over (from the Introduction to The Love Revolution).
I don't know why it works, but it has proved successful and particularly beneficial time and time again in my life that once I stop thinking about myself all time and use that energy in the service of others, I begin to worry less about what's going on in my life and, as a result, I have more strength and patience to endure it.
A Sneak Peak into What's Coming Tomorrow:
From Robert Kegan, "The Evolving Self"
"What the eye sees better the heart feels more deeply. We not only increase the likelihood of our being moved; we also run the risks that being moved entails. Seeing increases our vulnerability to be recruited to the welfare of another."
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