"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing?
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you--you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?' For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. "So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today."
Sort of a "let it be" philosophy. Of course you can't just sit back and wish God would take care of everything, God's work in this world is done by us. What I get from this passage is that we don't have to worry, we will have enough - an attitude of abundance, there's enough for everyone. That's easy for me to say - I live in a society and am part of a class that has an abundance. Not so sure what I'd think if I was starving.
Internalizing the idea of fostering non-attachment to material things, being joy filled, and not worrying - is enough to get some people who are part of the class of abundance to share their wealth, talent and time with those less fortunate. That's a good thing.
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I watched Sidney Poitier in the 1962 movie "Lilies of the Field" a couple of weeks ago.
The Amazon review by Tom Keogh says of the movie,
"Sidney Poitier won an Oscar for this endearing movie about a handyman who thinks he's just passing through a little town in New Mexico, and ends up staying awhile to build a chapel for a cluster of German-speaking nuns. The renowned actor is highly entertaining in his combative exchanges with Lilia Skala, playing a Mother Superior who survived Hitler and makes no bones about bullying the goodhearted, itinerant worker into doing more and more for her."
That's a great movie if you've never watched it you should. It's an entertaining way to get the idea of what Matthew was writing about, plus it has a wonderful song that even I can remember the lyrics for....Amen.
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If you want to read a true story of someone who isn't attached to personal comforts and possesions but rather gives his time and talent to help others I highly recommend the book Mountains Beyond Mountains : The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World
. It's very inspirational to see how much one dedicated person has done to alleviate suffering and cure disease. Of course Paul Farmer isn't working alone - he has a large number of supporters, team members, volunteers working together as part of Partners In Health (PIH), Health Care for the Poor.I was pleased to see Concordia College has selected "Mountains Beyond Mountains" as the summer read for students. Giving young people a chance to read, think about and discuss the possibilities for making a difference in the lives of those less fortunate (before they even take their first class) shows the vision of that college.
Concordia College Faith, Reason and World Affairs Symposium says, "Each summer, Concordia selects a book for all members of the college community to read and discuss. All first-year students are requested to read the book prior to Orientation Aug. 27-30, during which faculty members will lead book discussions."
