“When someone steals another’s clothes, we call them a thief. Should we not give the same name to one who could clothe the naked and does not? The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry; the coat unused in your closet belongs to the one who needs it; the shoes rotting in your closet belong to the one who has no shoes; the money which you hoard up belongs to the poor.”

― Basil the Great

Greed has been on my mind the last few days as I try to wrap my mind the decisions of our government leaders. As I try to understand people who serve in powerful positions and yet do nothing with that power to be of service. True service. Service people are desiring.

I struggle with people spouting Good Samaritan values and yet not acting in this manner. And I don’t like to judging others. I strive to believe everyone is doing the best they can for benevolent reasons. But then again, I believe in the words of Maya Angelou – “When someone shows you who they are, believe them.”

So I share what I can, honestly, most of the time. I do pass up homeless people standing on corners when I know I have some cash. I need to look into that more as I look to that confession of mine. Because I also catch myself wanting to rationalize those moments with the amount of socks I’ve bought for my son’s school’s 500 socks campaign for Socktober – yes Socktober – when did that start?

But I need to lean into my own sharing. Resolve my own greed. And lead my family continually forward feeling abundant and generous. For I feel that was the true path of Jesus.

For October, I’m writing in conjunction with 31 Days of Five Minute Free Writes and each post is written in five minutes flat.