Made in the streets

Heard a wonderful report last night from David Wilson and his wife who quit jobs and spent 6 months volunteering with OC's mission in Kenya to uplift children in the streets. It made me think about our perception of poverty--or rather lack of it. Most people not involved with schools or children's affairs do not even know that there are poverty-stricken children in Nashville and indeed all over the U. S. This in a booming economy with house sales going up (one million dollar homes are not rare in Nashville anymore), people restricting themselves to this and that diet (as children have nothing to eat) and spending thousands on Hummers while children are living in cars or boxes.

And now, the mayor of Nashville wants to raise the sales tax and the property tax which will also hit those who are struggling. Nashville EVEN TAXES FOOD!!!! The sales tax will shortly be 9.75%. It was quite a shocker for this Texan to go to the grocery store for the first time to find I had to unload my own cart at the checkout--no small feat in the tiny aisle AND had to take my own groceries to the car and load them, plus pay a sales tax on food.

Read Larry James at larryjamesurbandaily.blogspot.com for more hair raising details about how those in poverty are treated. He recently posted that those who apply for the drug discounts offered by the govt. are now being told that their welfare checks will be cut "because they will not have to pay for drugs and will have more money."
So much for compassion.

All of us need to read the minor prophets again with their warnings about oppression of the poor.

Isaiah 58:14 ...if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness and your night will become like noonday.

Maybe that is what would make our country an "all are created equal" place again.