Unaccountability!

Unaccountability!

We live in a society where no one is really accountable to anyone and people believe that they are owed something just because of who they are. You see it on the news all of the time. People deserve health insurance, a nice car, a good paying job, a good paying job that doesn't really require anything of them (including education and paying dues). People think that they deserve to be HAPPY and free of consequences.

Case in point. My sister and her husband are the worst money managers that exist in the world. Their only bills are their house note and utilities. Last year the husband made over 70,000. Yet, tomorrow if they don't pay their electricity bill, the company is going to shut it off. It looks like that is going to happen because they don't have the money. What happens is that she gets into these messes and she expects my mom to bail her out. Over and over again she will call my mom and say, "I don't know what I am going to do..." then explain the situation. And my mom, the kind soul that she is, will lend them the money. So far she has had to lend them some money to get her husband out of jail for public drunkeness, buy groceries for them, and pay for my sister's bankruptcy!!! Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that my mom makes about 24K a year (that is 1/3) of what my brother-in-law makes. What is amazing to me is that they always have money for my sister to get a manicure once a week, my brother-in-law to get a 4 wheeler or a gun for hunting. Two weeks ago he took a week off of work without pay because he didn't want to use up his vacation during a 1 week plant shut down. Now this week they are going to shut the lights off. It is psychotic. I told my mom, "good! Sitting in 100 degree heat without airconditioning may be enough of a motivator to pay their bills."

However, there are truly poor people out there that are struggling to get the bare essentials. I have to confess that I don't do enough to help these people. My heart seems to be changing. I see the horrible poverty in other countries from the comfort of my livingroom. I see the kids in this country that go without anything to eat for days because mom or dad is a crack head. My wife has seen time and time again, elderly people without food because they made a choice to buy medicine or food for the month. My heart truly breaks for these people. Look around, there are lonley and hurting people right in your own backyard.

My hope is that one day, I will be transformed into being more compassionate and helpful to those in need. After all, isn't that what Jesus was all about? He stretched his hands out to the lepers, the drunks, the tax collectors, the prostitutes. He was the harshest with the "religious folk" of the day. God, save me from being a religious person.

Till next time...
J...