The Price of Everything Is Going Up! 

Besides many people telling me how the price of everything was going up and they didn't know how that affected the collection plate in churches, one local business man did say he would not charge me for the bill I needed to pay him, but the bad news was that he would not put anything into the collection plate.  So I had to put into the collection plate myself what I owed him - except it did make me think just how much that meant.  Would either he or myself say that under any circumstances?  Would we carry it out?

Well, I read about Liang who is 63 years of age and a retired school teacher.  She receives about 287 dollars a month for a pension.  She had heard the news about the earthquake in her own country of China.  She cried and cried.  She even stopped watching TV because the pictures and the news were so bad.  She was so upset by so many children being killed and then so many people that nobody will ever really know how many have died.  I mean after so many can any of us really imagine that number of dead people?

Liang made a decision when she learnt about the way people were helping each other like they never did before; she learnt about the way people from foreign countries also came to help and large international agencies.  She learnt that the whole of China actually stopped doing everything for 3 minutes just to reflect on what had happened.

Liang decided she would give her whole month's pension to help with the relief work.  She thought she would just manage somehow.  She knew she was alive.  She realised she was only a spectator to all of this tragedy.  She had no idea if the month's pension would be wisely spent or not.  There were so many stories and rumours about charity money being misused and corruption was everywhere.

Anyhow she was a teacher at one time and she still wanted people to believe in each other and to care for each other.  In good faith she would give her pension.

The best teaching is by example and the only teaching that matters is what is practised.

I'm just waiting for the council to offer to forego the council tax if I will pay the same into the collection plate.

Mind you we don't need to wait for anybody to challenge us to be good neighbours and to love each other.  I know we have it in us to do it anyway.

Every blessing....................

Angus