Nov. 6, 2011: “you have the poor among you always,”* . . .

. . . and, by the way, their fashion-sense may differ from your own.

Today at our Meeting’s Forum—a 45-minute opportunity to listen to and ask questions about whatever various individuals or groups wish to impart—we learned about AFSC’s Clothing Room. Housed in the basement beneath our meetinghouse, the Clothing Room used to send donated clothing all over the world. Nowadays it services those in need  who, after they’d been recommended by a social worker or anti-poverty agency and had scheduled an appointment, arrive at the designated time to browse through the ton of donated stuff and take take whatever they need.

“But you need to park your ego at the door,” the presenter, who often volunteers in the Clothing Room, explained. “Like one time I saw a whole bunch of turtlenecks being recycled.” (Sometimes donated items are given to other agencies or, if absolutely unusable, thrown away.) “Perfectly good turtlenecks! So I protested. But was told, ‘ No one wants turtlenecks. So we don’t bother keeping them on our shelf.’ ”

Is it just me or is that one of most, ahem, telling stories you’ve  ever heard?’

*Matthew 26: 11.

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1 Comment

  1. I’ve had this verse on my mind for awhile, and also thinking about the Beatitudes, how many feel about poverty and the impoverished. Many believe, at this time of Thanksgiving, that we thank God for what we have, so in turn, what we have is a blessing (from God) and if someone is a have-not, they are not blessed, and perhaps are even considered accursed. Yet Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor…”
    Clearly, he just meant the poor in heart.

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