[Magdalen] whose theology is this?

[Jay Weigel]

Why is it that the people who have the least are the most apt to be the
first to help? When I was doing home health, it was the poorest people on
my route who insisted on sharing their meals, however meager they might be
(and they'd be offended if they weren't accepted!). In the video many of
you may have seen online recently, of a kid shivering in the cold, it was a
homeless man who offered his jacket. (Admittedly, that was an experiment,
but it could just as well have been real, and the man who offered his
jacket did not know it wasn't real.) People who have little know what it's
like not to have, so they give what little they have to give. People who
have more hold on to what they have because they're afraid of not having
enough. The people who have too much have no concept of what it's like not
to have enough, and IMNSHO most of them don't care.

On Tuesday, March 3, 2015, James Oppenheimer-Crawford <
oppenheimerjw at gmail.com> wrote:

> The "cat lady" was one of the smallest people I've known.  She was a
> therapy aide at our facility, and was abused by one of the team leaders
> because she saw that lady in a compromising -- which is unimportant now.
>
> She had a deal with the SPCA.  She did the legwork of catching them; they
> did the neutering, and she found new locations for them.  I suspect that
> last was the hard part.
>
> Why is it that the folks who have nothing are the ones who find the time to
> help the voiceless or the oppressed?
>
> James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
> *“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
> except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy
>
> On Tue, Mar 3, 2015 at 4:25 PM, H Angus <hangus at ctcn.net <javascript:;>>
> wrote:
>
> > Jsmes O., I've heard that one about the starfish and I love it I also
> love
> > the feral cat lady. I've been thinking about how I'd like to do something
> > like that with my alley -- many many literal "alley cats," and they keep
> > increasing. But I don't have the money to have them spayed and neutered.
> > However, maybe I can get with some others and see if anything can be
> done.
> >
> > In any case, I see the "attitude" quite a lot, though mainly on the
> > internet: if Joe Schmoe says he's helping out at a soup kitchen, or
> > mentoring an at-risk student, or donating to a cause, the standard sneers
> > start up: "You're so stupid because...(a) "You can't save them all so why
> > waste your time," or (b)"They're just after your money, sucker" or (c --
> my
> > favorite) "You know you're just doing this so you can feel good about
> > yourself."
> >
> > Gotta love it
> >
> > Heather
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "James Oppenheimer" <oppenheimerjw at gmail.com <javascript:;>>
> > To: "Magdalen at herberthouse.org <javascript:;>" <
> magdalen at herberthouse.org <javascript:;>>
> > Sent: Tuesday, March 3, 2015 3:46:49 PM
> > Subject: Re: [Magdalen] whose theology is this?
> >
> > Neither Marge nor I was thinking of -- whatever facebook site you are
> > trying to talk about.
> >
> > I know a lady who has been concerned about feral cats near where I
> worked.
> > So she got some traps and started bringing them to the SPCA who neutered
> > them, and then she found alternate locations for them.  I helped her for
> a
> > while with this project.  This entire enterprise was one woman and her
> Fit.
> > SPCA loaned her have-a-heart traps.
> >
> > You see the hopelessness of the situation and you assume it's hopeless!
> > Give it up!
> >
> > I'm reminded of the man who went walking early in the morning on a beach
> > and saw a small figure in the distance -- doing what?
> > As he got nearer, he could see the other was picking things up and
> throwing
> > them into the sea.
> > Arriving at the same point on the beach, he saw a small child, picking up
> > starfish and throwing them out into the surf.
> > It had been stormy, and starfish littered the shoreline.
> > "What are you doing?" the man inquired.
> > "Rescuing these starfish," replied the child.  "If they stay where they
> are
> > now, they'll die."
> > The man looked up and down the beach, and said, "But there are so many.
> > What good does it do to throw a few back?"
> > The child just kept throwing the starfish back, one at a time.
> > "There must be a million starfish here!" the man exclaimed.  Surely the
> > child just wasn't thinking. "Even if you stay here all day -- what
> possible
> > difference can it make?" he was now practically shouting with
> exasperation.
> > The child reached for another starfish, looked at the man for a moment,
> and
> > then threw the starfish far out beyond the surf.
> > "I bet it made a difference to that one," the child said.
> >
> > Now in the world, we have basic assumptions. One seems to be that people
> > are basically good or evil.
> >
> > If you assume that the world is crap and most people are evil, then in
> this
> > story, they knock it off and go have a beer.
> >
> > If you assume that most people are not THAT bad, and would do good if
> only
> > they thought it through, then the story has another ending:
> >
> > Looking down that beach, you see two figures walking away, one taller
> than
> > the other, stooping down every second or so and throwing something --
> what
> > could it be? -- far out into the sea.
> >
> >
> >
> > James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
> > *“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
> > except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy
> >
> > On Tue, Mar 3, 2015 at 2:43 PM, Jim Guthrie <jguthrie at pipeline.com
> <javascript:;>> wrote:
> >
> > > From: James Oppenheimer-Crawford
> > >
> > >  You know, Jim, you can be a repository of good information, and I know
> > >> that
> > >> you find it annoying when folks say things you do not happen to agree
> > >> with,
> > >> and I am sorry you find that annoying, but when you blow hot air, it's
> > >> also
> > >> annoying.
> > >>
> > >
> > > One of the great modern petition sites is Facebook (as well as other
> > > Social Media). What people don’t know is that these petitions nearly
> > always
> > > go nowhere. They are used for deep data-mining of the responder and any
> > of
> > > his/her friends.
> > >
> > > It's fascinating to see people think that their participating in one of
> > > these data-mining ventures seems real pleased when their POV comes
> true.
> > > But it's more like blaming firefighters for fires because they seem
> > always
> > > to be there when there is one.
> > >
> > > It's money that wins in today's America.
> > >
> > > Cheers,
> > > Jim Guthrie
> > >
> >
> >
>