September 21
Analysis of Income, Poverty and Health Insurance
The Census Bureau just released an in-depth analysis of income, poverty and health insurance coverage in the U.S. in 2007.
* Real median household income in the United States climbed 1.3 percent between 2006 and 2007, reaching $50,233. This is the third annual increase in real [inflation-adjusted] median household income.
* Meanwhile, the nation's official poverty rate in 2007 was 12.5 percent, not statistically different from 2006. There were 37.3 million people in poverty in 2007, up from 36.5 million in 2006.
* The number of people without health insurance coverage declined from 47 million (15.8 percent) in 2006 to 45.7 million (15.3) in 2007.
* Real income rose for black households, the first increase since 1999.
* Real income was statistically unchanged for Hispanic and Asian households.
* National income inequality decreased from 2006 to 2007.
* The poverty threshold for a family of four in 2007 was $21,203.
* 21.5 percent of Hispanics were in poverty in 2007, up from 20.6 percent in 2006.
* 18 percent of children under 18 were in poverty in 2007, up from 17.4 percent in 2006.
* Uninsured children decreased from 8.7 to 8.1 million.
* Uninsured Hispanics decreased from 15.3 to 14.8 million.
A reporter once asked Pope John XXIII, "How many people work here in the Vatican?" to which the dear, old Pope answered, "Oh, about half, I guess."
Offering Our Addictions to God
We should give to God the things that restrict and limit us. We've read of one church where there was an alcoholic in the membership who insisted on buying the wine for Communion. When his pastor asked him why, the man said, "Because there is something about going in to buy that wine, then giving it to the church, and seeing you dedicate it to God and it becoming something that transforms people's lives." Offering to God that which enslaves us is a first step on any road to recovery.
Driving to a new restaurant, a woman took several wrong turns. When she finally found the right road, she asked her husband, "Why didn't you tell me I was lost?"
"I thought you knew where you were going," he replied.
"You always know where you're going when I'm driving!"
A story is told of a father that dropped off his son for Sunday School. He didn't attend church but wanted his son to go. The father's lack of concern rubbed off on his son. After church he picked him up and asked him what the preacher talked about. The boy replied, "I'm not real sure. A parable about cold people or something." "What?" the puzzled father said. The boy explained, "Well, the preacher kept saying many are cold, a few are frozen."
My mother's menu consisted of two choices: Take it or leave it.
The strength of a church is not revealed by how many it seats, but by how many it sends. --W. Stanley Mooneyham
The newly-married husband came home from the office to find his young wife in floods of tears. "Darling, whatever is the matter?" he asked.
"Sweetheart," she sobbed, "the most terrible thing has happened! I cooked my very first Beef Bourguignon for you, and I got it out of the oven to season it, and the phone rang. When I came back from answering the phone," she sobbed again. "I found that the cat had
eaten it!"
"Don't worry, darling," said her husband. "Don't cry. We can get a new cat tomorrow."
Generosity Is the Secret to Our Joy
There is an old rabbinic parable about a farmer that had two sons. As soon as they were old enough to walk, he took them to the fields and he taught them everything that he knew about growing crops and raising animals. When he got too old to work, the two boys took over the chores of the farm and when the father died, they had found their working together so meaningful that they decided to keep their partnership. So each brother contributed what he could and during every harvest season, they would divide equally what they had corporately produced. Across the years the elder brother never married, stayed an old bachelor. The younger brother did marry and had eight wonderful children. Some years later when they were having a wonderful harvest, the old bachelor brother thought to himself one night, "My brother has ten mouths to feed. I only have one. He really needs more of his harvest than I do, but I know he is much too fair to renegotiate. I know what I'll do. In the dead of the night when he is already asleep, I'll take some of what I have put in my barn and I'll slip it over into his barn to help him feed his children.
At the very time he was thinking down that line, the younger brother was thinking to himself, "God has given me these wonderful children. My brother hasn't been so fortunate. He really needs more of this harvest for his old age than I do, but I know him. He's much too fair. He'll never renegotiate. I know what I'll do. In the dead of the night when he's asleep, I'll take some of what I've put in my barn and slip it over into his barn." And so one night when the moon was full, as you may have already anticipated, those two brothers came face to face, each on a mission of generosity. The old rabbi said that there wasn't a cloud in the sky, a gentle rain began to fall. You know what it was? God weeping for joy because two of his children had gotten the point. Two of his children had come to realize that generosity is the deepest characteristic of the holy and because we are made in God's image, our being generous is the secret to our joy as well. Life is not fair, thank God! It's not fair because it's rooted in grace.
Fairness
This parable goes against the business mentality that dominates our lives. We have always been taught: You get out of something directly in proportion to that which you put in it. Yet, that is not what happened in Jesus’ story. In our way of thinking, the laborers who came to the field late got something for nothing. This parable challenges us not to look upon the Kingdom of God, or the church, as a business community. Yet, that is difficult for us to do, because that is our point of reference. What do you think would happen if a person joined the church this morning and immediately after receiving the vows of profession of faith I suggested to the congregation that he or she be nominated as the next chairperson of the Administrative Board. What do you think the reaction would be? Well, I think I know what the reaction would be. The laity would protest as loudly as Simon Peter is protesting to Jesus.
You see, we live in a world of tenure and seniority and it goes against our grain when we hear Jesus say: The first shall be last and the last shall be first. God's grace is not based upon what is fair, but rather what helps.
A sparrow complained to Mother Nature, "You gave beautiful colors to the peacock and a lovely song to the nightingale, but I am plain and unnoticed. Why was I made to suffer?"
"You were not made to suffer," stated Mother Nature. "You suffer because you make the same foolish mistake as human beings. You compare yourself with others. Be yourself, for in that there is no comparison and no pain."
The UN Population Division issued a report in March 2007 stating that the world population will likely increase by 2.5 billion over the next 43 years, passing from the current 6.7 billion to 9.2 billion in 2050. This increase is equivalent to the total size of the world population in 1950, and it will be absorbed mostly by the less developed regions, whose population is projected to rise from 5.4 billion in 2007 to 7.9 billion in 2050. If you think the world feels crowded now, just wait. In 1800, London was the world’s largest city with one million people. By 1960, there were 111 cities with more than one million people. By 1995 there were 280, and today there are over 300. The number of megacities (with ten million or more population) in the world has climbed from 5 in 1975 to 14 in 1995 and is expected to reach 26 cities by 2015.
The only way to learn strong faith is to endure great trials. --George Mueller
The Census Bureau just released an in-depth analysis of income, poverty and health insurance coverage in the U.S. in 2007.
* Real median household income in the United States climbed 1.3 percent between 2006 and 2007, reaching $50,233. This is the third annual increase in real [inflation-adjusted] median household income.
* Meanwhile, the nation's official poverty rate in 2007 was 12.5 percent, not statistically different from 2006. There were 37.3 million people in poverty in 2007, up from 36.5 million in 2006.
* The number of people without health insurance coverage declined from 47 million (15.8 percent) in 2006 to 45.7 million (15.3) in 2007.
* Real income rose for black households, the first increase since 1999.
* Real income was statistically unchanged for Hispanic and Asian households.
* National income inequality decreased from 2006 to 2007.
* The poverty threshold for a family of four in 2007 was $21,203.
* 21.5 percent of Hispanics were in poverty in 2007, up from 20.6 percent in 2006.
* 18 percent of children under 18 were in poverty in 2007, up from 17.4 percent in 2006.
* Uninsured children decreased from 8.7 to 8.1 million.
* Uninsured Hispanics decreased from 15.3 to 14.8 million.
A reporter once asked Pope John XXIII, "How many people work here in the Vatican?" to which the dear, old Pope answered, "Oh, about half, I guess."
Offering Our Addictions to God
We should give to God the things that restrict and limit us. We've read of one church where there was an alcoholic in the membership who insisted on buying the wine for Communion. When his pastor asked him why, the man said, "Because there is something about going in to buy that wine, then giving it to the church, and seeing you dedicate it to God and it becoming something that transforms people's lives." Offering to God that which enslaves us is a first step on any road to recovery.
Driving to a new restaurant, a woman took several wrong turns. When she finally found the right road, she asked her husband, "Why didn't you tell me I was lost?"
"I thought you knew where you were going," he replied.
"You always know where you're going when I'm driving!"
A story is told of a father that dropped off his son for Sunday School. He didn't attend church but wanted his son to go. The father's lack of concern rubbed off on his son. After church he picked him up and asked him what the preacher talked about. The boy replied, "I'm not real sure. A parable about cold people or something." "What?" the puzzled father said. The boy explained, "Well, the preacher kept saying many are cold, a few are frozen."
My mother's menu consisted of two choices: Take it or leave it.
The strength of a church is not revealed by how many it seats, but by how many it sends. --W. Stanley Mooneyham
The newly-married husband came home from the office to find his young wife in floods of tears. "Darling, whatever is the matter?" he asked.
"Sweetheart," she sobbed, "the most terrible thing has happened! I cooked my very first Beef Bourguignon for you, and I got it out of the oven to season it, and the phone rang. When I came back from answering the phone," she sobbed again. "I found that the cat had
eaten it!"
"Don't worry, darling," said her husband. "Don't cry. We can get a new cat tomorrow."
Generosity Is the Secret to Our Joy
There is an old rabbinic parable about a farmer that had two sons. As soon as they were old enough to walk, he took them to the fields and he taught them everything that he knew about growing crops and raising animals. When he got too old to work, the two boys took over the chores of the farm and when the father died, they had found their working together so meaningful that they decided to keep their partnership. So each brother contributed what he could and during every harvest season, they would divide equally what they had corporately produced. Across the years the elder brother never married, stayed an old bachelor. The younger brother did marry and had eight wonderful children. Some years later when they were having a wonderful harvest, the old bachelor brother thought to himself one night, "My brother has ten mouths to feed. I only have one. He really needs more of his harvest than I do, but I know he is much too fair to renegotiate. I know what I'll do. In the dead of the night when he is already asleep, I'll take some of what I have put in my barn and I'll slip it over into his barn to help him feed his children.
At the very time he was thinking down that line, the younger brother was thinking to himself, "God has given me these wonderful children. My brother hasn't been so fortunate. He really needs more of this harvest for his old age than I do, but I know him. He's much too fair. He'll never renegotiate. I know what I'll do. In the dead of the night when he's asleep, I'll take some of what I've put in my barn and slip it over into his barn." And so one night when the moon was full, as you may have already anticipated, those two brothers came face to face, each on a mission of generosity. The old rabbi said that there wasn't a cloud in the sky, a gentle rain began to fall. You know what it was? God weeping for joy because two of his children had gotten the point. Two of his children had come to realize that generosity is the deepest characteristic of the holy and because we are made in God's image, our being generous is the secret to our joy as well. Life is not fair, thank God! It's not fair because it's rooted in grace.
Fairness
This parable goes against the business mentality that dominates our lives. We have always been taught: You get out of something directly in proportion to that which you put in it. Yet, that is not what happened in Jesus’ story. In our way of thinking, the laborers who came to the field late got something for nothing. This parable challenges us not to look upon the Kingdom of God, or the church, as a business community. Yet, that is difficult for us to do, because that is our point of reference. What do you think would happen if a person joined the church this morning and immediately after receiving the vows of profession of faith I suggested to the congregation that he or she be nominated as the next chairperson of the Administrative Board. What do you think the reaction would be? Well, I think I know what the reaction would be. The laity would protest as loudly as Simon Peter is protesting to Jesus.
You see, we live in a world of tenure and seniority and it goes against our grain when we hear Jesus say: The first shall be last and the last shall be first. God's grace is not based upon what is fair, but rather what helps.
A sparrow complained to Mother Nature, "You gave beautiful colors to the peacock and a lovely song to the nightingale, but I am plain and unnoticed. Why was I made to suffer?"
"You were not made to suffer," stated Mother Nature. "You suffer because you make the same foolish mistake as human beings. You compare yourself with others. Be yourself, for in that there is no comparison and no pain."
The UN Population Division issued a report in March 2007 stating that the world population will likely increase by 2.5 billion over the next 43 years, passing from the current 6.7 billion to 9.2 billion in 2050. This increase is equivalent to the total size of the world population in 1950, and it will be absorbed mostly by the less developed regions, whose population is projected to rise from 5.4 billion in 2007 to 7.9 billion in 2050. If you think the world feels crowded now, just wait. In 1800, London was the world’s largest city with one million people. By 1960, there were 111 cities with more than one million people. By 1995 there were 280, and today there are over 300. The number of megacities (with ten million or more population) in the world has climbed from 5 in 1975 to 14 in 1995 and is expected to reach 26 cities by 2015.
The only way to learn strong faith is to endure great trials. --George Mueller
posted by joypastordon at 2:50 PM
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