The Good Courage devotion today asked the reader to consider what they give out of their abundance, and what do they give out of their poverty. The underlying message or point I took from this was that giving out my abundance is easy. Further, that which we give from our poverty, the areas of our life in which we feel lacking, is a deeper, more noble kind of giving.
The practical example the writer gave came from their experience of sorting cans collected in a food drive, and seeing how many from her parish gave expired canned goods. I’ve “been there and done that”, in that I’ve helped sort after two community wide food drives in our area.
We packed dozens of cardboard boxes with cans that could not be passed along at the food bank, or the local food pantry, so would be taken to a local farmer who’d feed it all to their chickens. (Apparently, chickens can eat almost anything.)
What does it mean to give in the way the “poor widow” in the gospel story gives?
“Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For they all contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on. ” (Mark 12: 43– 44)
Darrow Woods: Writer of Things 