Leaves of Gold, Joints of Rust

 

"Since there will never cease to be some in need on earth, I therefore command you, ‘Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in the land.’” Deuteronomy 15:11

The leaves are falling. Slowly, but surely, they’re making their descent from the limbs and branches of the trees and shrubs in our yard and in the world around us.

There’s a side of me that would like them all to drop before going out and doing my fall “cleanup,” but I am at the age where tackling life a day at a time is a bit easier and (possibly) wiser. So each day the little lady and I go out into the yard and scrape up a few leaves, digging them out of the cracks and crevasses of the walls that terrace our yard. We pull the weeds that dare to grow within an arm’s length of those retaining walls, and generally try to just keep the yard presentable for passers-by.

We don’t do as much yard-work as we would like to (using the term “we” quite loosely). Our property is fairly large, but the lingering effects of our bouts with Covid several years ago and the increasing numbers of trips around the sun have both taken their toll. That’s OK, though. We’re both ambulatory, for the most part. It just takes a little longer to do some things, and I still prefer weeds to grow knee high so I don’t have to reach down so far to pull them.

Fortunately, we have a couple of young lads that do the lion’s share of work around the yard. They’re young, strong, nimble, quick, alert, attentive to details, and dependable. On top of all that, they enjoy doing the work they do! Consequently, I find it a joy to pay them for their labor, and pay them well.

I don’t say that to brag or to boast. Paying people a decent wage is nothing to boast about. In fact, it is a pleasure, an honor, and a privilege to be able to share some of the shekels & ducats that have come our way over the years. 

“A laborer is worthy of his hire,” says the Bible (1 Tim 5:18). Elsewhere, Jesus tells the story of the landowner who makes sure everyone in the community has an opportunity to labor in his field, and he makes sure each receives a proper wage. I don’t usually do biblical exposition in these columns, but will say the point of that story is the welfare of the community. 

The laborers do their work and the landowner provides from out of his purse that which is needed to strengthen and support the community. The workers don’t have to pry the coins from his cold dead fingers. He opens his hands and freely shares with everyone, just like the Bible tells him to, just like his heart tells him to!

Jesus is also clear, of course, that we need to be careful about not parading our piety around to be seen by others, or to have our backs patted by others, so it is certainly with some fear and trepidation that I even tell you what I do. But I also think we each lead by example. It’s important to not just “talk the talk” but to “walk the walk,”  if you’ll pardon the cliche.

Amy-Jill Levine, in her book “short stories by jesus” [sic] reminds her readers (p. 236) that “Jesus is neither a Marxist nor a capitalist. Rather, he is both an idealist and a pragmatist. His focus is often less directly on ‘good news to the poor’ than on ‘responsibility of the rich.’”

Few of us feel “rich,” and yet in a world of seven or eight billion people, we Americans are very rich. We don’t need to squander what we have, but neither should we live in miserly fear.

“Thoughts and Prayers” for the world around us is just meaningless noise. “Strengthen the hands that are slack; make firm the tottering knees! Say to the anxious of heart, ‘Be strong, fear not; Behold your God!’” (Isaiah 35:3) Now THAT is a biblical prayer!

I believe those who are generous of heart have beheld God. More than that, they’ve given the poor a chance to see and know God through their actions, as well. God, as they say, loves a cheerful giver, so cheer up you here in this, our valley!

Keith Axberg writes on matters concerning life and faith. Author of: Who the Blazes is Jesus? Good News for a Vulgar World (available through Amazon in Print and e-book)