Generous Hands

Generous Hands 

Generous hands are blessed hands

because they give bread to the poor.

Proverbs 22:9

Once upon a time, a woman living in a small town in Pennsylvania started handing out free lunches to the children in her neighborhood while they were home on summer vacation.  The food was supplied by a local church to help low-income residents of the township.  For children whose main meal of the day was the school lunch, summer break brought the very real danger of malnutrition for those kids.

The city council found out what the nice lady was doing and ruled that she was violating a zoning law because she was giving food away in a residential area.  She would need to pay $1000 for a variance from the City Council  or face fines of $600 a day.  The community responded with outrage, and under pressure, the Council finally agreed to let the nice lady continue for the rest of the summer.

You would think that the township's administration would have been falling all over themselves to thank a woman who was willing to give of herself for such a thankless task.  The nice lady should have been admired, encouraged and assisted, not tarred and feathered with red tape.  Maybe someone should have urged the City Council to pop down to her side of town at lunchtime and help pass out the food.  Perhaps they would have gained a different perspective and a more generous disposition. 

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Give thanks with a grateful heart,

Give thanks to the Holy One,

Give thanks because He’s given Jesus Christ, His Son.

And now, let the weak say “I am strong!”

Let the poor say “I am rich,

Because of what the Lord has done for us.”

Give thanks.

The Faith We Sing, No. 2036