The results were very encouraging to me on a personal level. The earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12 had me internally wondering & doubting if we were traveling to the right Caribbean country at the right time. The devastation of Haiti made the problems that Jamaicans face pale in comparison.  Yet I knew that God wanted us to go on our Jamaican trip at this exact time. Last fall, God opened the doors to send us to Montego Bay again even as he knew this humanitarian crisis would unfold a few months later. And the more I researched the matter, I realized that Haiti’s infrastructure is in such disarray that it will be a while before a relatively novice missions team (like ours) will be able to offer significant disaster relief. Hopefully in the coming years Haiti can rebuild enough to receive and properly distribute supplies to those in need while also having the ability to host aid workers and missions volunteers.

Yet all my struggles vanished when I arrived in Jamaica. Once you get outside of the resort walls, you notice that many Jamaicans are very poor. Consequently, being immersed in that poverty rivets your attention to the tasks at hand. I was also trying to be sensitive to our team members who had never been exposed to this kind of economic and material destitution. Included on our team were a few teenage girls who had never experienced such a bleak environment. You could see their minds, hearts and souls attempting to process this new reality just a short plane flight from their home.   

Now as I reflect back on the plethora of experiences from our trip, there were two major highlights. The first occurred on Sunday, Feb. 14. On that day, I had the privilege of helping baptize a Jamaican man named Peton. Our first Jamaica missions team had befriended him in March 2009 when he was helping us do construction on a church. During the end of our time in Jamaica, Peton made a faith commitment to Jesus Christ. We encouraged him to grow in this relationship and become a leader in the church. We told him we hoped to return a year later to check on him. Amazingly, despite being unplanned by us (yet due to God’s providence) it just so happened that when we returned to Jamaica for this trip, Peton was getting baptized on the only Sunday we would be there. As Peton emerged from the river, the joy that filled our hearts was indescribable. It was truly a transcendent moment that validated our work in Jamaica.

The second highlight occurred during our last full day. We visited West Haven Children’s Home, a residential home for severely physically and mentally handicapped children.  To be honest, it was a very intense and overwhelming place! As soon as we got out of the van–before we even had a chance to unload our donated clothes and toys–the children swarmed us. They wanted to hug us and play with us. So we hugged them and pushed them around in their wheelchairs and fed them lunch. After lunch, we held a rousing Cricket Match. A few of the young men in wheelchairs proved remarkably nimble and adept. One guy in a wheelchair hit a hard line drive to another guy in a wheelchair, and he caught it with his bare, gnarled hands! Everyone erupted into cheers! I thought to myself “What a special way to end a special trip. Thank you God.”  In that moment, there were no doubts, just joy and gratitude to be a part of God’s work.

 This past October, our Haitian leader William Bertrand visited our church.  He came to thank us for a generous gift we provided in the fall of 2008, when hurricanes destroyed a few of our church buildings in Haiti. William gave us an update on the rebuilding efforts of those churches, which was encouraging.  Additionally, we gave him a check for a special project, which in God’s providence, is looking more timely than ever! Our church wanted to provide greater awareness of and raise additional funds for the nutrition center. So in November, our donation was used to purchase a video camera and fly William’s daughter from her home in Miami to Haiti in order to film video footage of the nutrition center. Our church plans to use the video footage to create a fundraising short film, to be distributed to other churches.     

 Obviously, since the earthquake struck, this project has not been our primary concern. Our concern has been for our churches, ministries, and the people of Haiti.  And praise be to God! William and his wife Marie survived the earthquake and they are working with our Haitian pastors to try and meet some the overwhelming needs that face them.

 In the meantime, many of us are feeling helpless and left to wonder: what can I do to help? Well first off, we cannot be paralyzed by despondency. I am convinced that at least two positive effects will come as a result of this catastrophe. The first positive effect is unity. Oftentimes it takes a calamity of this proportion to bring different people, parties and nations together for a greater cause. It puts our pettiness back into its proper perspective and we rise above our differences and work together. The second positive effect is the potential for rebirth. Because the destruction is so complete, Haiti has the opportunity to rebuild its infrastructure in a proper way so this kind of catastrophe will not happen again.  Haiti has the potential to come out of this disaster as a stronger nation.   

 With that framework in mind, I encourage you to take three actions in the coming days: Firstly, PRAY. Martin Tupper, the English poet, once said “Prayer is the slender nerve that moves the muscle of omnipotence.” 1 Thessalonians 5:17 commands us to “pray continually.” Many churches in Haiti, including Evangelical Friends churches, have continued to gather for worship services. The Haitians are continually praying and so should we!

Secondly, GIVE. If you feel led to, I encourage you to give to reputable relief organizations such as the American Red Cross, World Relief, World Vision, etc. I know there are many people in our community who are financially hurting during this recession. But if you have access to clean drinking water and one warm meal today, you are far richer than the vast majority of Haitians.  According to the CIA World Factbook, the average Haitian only makes $1300 US dollars a year. In April of 2008, the New York Times ran a story on their website titled “Across the Globe, Empty Bellies Bring Rising Anger,” that described how many Haitians are so poor, that they eat patties made of mud, oil and sugar to stave off their hunger. Few of us have eaten mud to stay alive. 

Thirdly, TAKE THE LONG VIEW. There are two stages to Haiti’s recovery: the initial rescue of people and the rebuilding efforts. The rescue takes weeks; the reconstruction takes years. Long after the media leaves Haiti, they will still be rebuilding a nation. Americans tend to have a short memory, but the real task lies ahead.

But if we can continually pray and give and take the long view, Haiti will reemerge into a better future.

It is only 160 pages, but it is heavy. It has a lot of layers. Reading it a 2nd time, I gained so much more than after my initial reading.

I believe in it so much that I am having the EFC Newport staff read through it for our Monday am devotions.  I am also interested in using it as a leadership development tool at the church. 

It also helps if you watch Keller’s talk “Prodigal God” at the 2009 Willowcreek Leadership Summit. It is a great overview/summary of the book.

The question you need to answer is whether you are more like the younger brother or elder brother. Are you following the 3rd way?

That is a brief history of Advent, but what is it? Well it derives from the Greek word “parousia” which means “the appearance, the coming.” It is used in the New Testament 24 times, mostly to refer to the Second Coming of Christ. When the Bible was translated into Latin, the word “parousia” was translated “adventus”, the Latin word for “arrival.” Essentially,  Advent is the expectation of and preparation for Jesus’ arrival. Therefore, throughout Christian history, Advent has reminded us of Christ’s two arrivals: his first arrival as a helpless baby in a stable many years ago and his second arrival as a conquering king, which awaits us in the future. 

So Advent is about the coming of Christ: reflecting on it, preparing for it. For hundreds of years, Christians took it so seriously, that they fasted in advance of Christmas. Christmas was not about gifts, decorations or eggnog. Jesus Christ has come once, which reminds us he has promised to come back again.

Theologians have long used another term for the Advent of Christ: “the incarnation.”  It is based on Matthew 1:22-23, which calls Jesus “Emmanuel,” which means “God with us.”  At Christmas, we remember the birth of Jesus Christ and marvel at the amazing fact that God left his home in heaven and became a baby in order to rescue our lost and broken world. 

So what does that mean for us? Well first off, I think pondering all of this would give you and me a sense of awe, wonder and thanks. God himself cared enough about us to abandon the glory and splendor of heaven and to come to our tiny rock hanging in space. God must love human beings and think we are very valuable to put forth all that effort. I don’t know about you, but that gives me encouragement and hope during this season in world history!   

Secondly, the Bible is clear that every person who claims the name of Christ is to be an imitator of Christ: to follow in his footsteps and to adopt his humble and sacrificial attitude. God did not come into a gold-glinted palace smelling of sweet incense but instead arrived in a tumbledown barn with the pungent scent of straw and manure. That means we are to take the low road of servant-hood instead of the high road to glory.  The Apostle Paul framed it this way: “Don’t be selfish; don’t live to make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself. Don’t think only about your own affairs, but be interested in others, too, and what they are doing. Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on a cross” (Philippians 2:3—8, New Living Translation).   

I think for many of us, during Advent, we make an extra effort to be more humble and compassionate and generous. We give more money to charities and rally around community needs. But here’s the thing: Why don’t we do that year round, regardless of the holiday? Does Christ only want us to imitate him during Christmas? After all, Advent is not only about his first coming, but his second coming as well.

Have you ever wondered why we as Americans obsess about our homes/buildings/facilities? Every year we spend millions of dollars on decorations, paint, repairs, renovations and upgrades. The Home Depot and Walmart have countless people pass through their doors looking for the right appliance or epoxy that will spruce up or fix their humble abode.  The same is true of companies and corporations that hire maintenance staff and landscapers to make everything look just right.

                One answer to this question is what ancient and modern philosophers and theologians have referred to as “aesthetics.” That is, humans are hard-wired to seek and create beauty. It touches our souls. I believe this desire for beauty is an example of what the Bible teaches regarding the “imago Dei”: human beings are created in the image of God.  God is lovely and creates lovely things, therefore we share the same passion.

                Nonetheless, I have to wonder if we have taken it all a bit too far.  I have been reflecting on this recently because of all the construction that has taken place on our church facility since I became Pastor two and half years ago. When I first arrived the church was just started an ambitious renovation campaign to dramatically modernize and improve our foyer, offices and sanctuary. Then we moved on to upgrading our children’s and youth wings. And then we installed air conditioning in the sanctuary. And then we replaced our sanctuary speaker system. Now we are rebuilding the ramp to our front entrance while also seeking to upgrade our fellowship hall. When does it ever end? The church building is only 37 years old and yet in the past two years we have spent tens of thousands of dollars to maintain and improve it. 

                Now don’t get me wrong! I am not complaining, just musing. Facilities, particularly church buildings, can serve an important purpose. They can provide a place to gather for meaningful worship and fellowship, where people can connect with God and one another. Creating the right environment is an important piece for connecting: studies show that lighting and colors and scents impact and shape people’s perceptions, moods and emotions. There is a reason people will pay four dollars for a cup of coffee at Starbucks rather than two dollars at Dunkin’ Donuts and contrary to popular opinion it is not all about the taste of the coffee. People will pay extra money to sit in plush chairs situated by fireplaces. (Believe me, I know from personal experience!)  

                Yet as is often the case, the Bible corrects my thinking and puts everything back into perspective. Ultimately, the church is all about the people, not the building. That is why the Bible calls the church, aka God’s people, the Body of Jesus Christ and the Bride of Jesus Christ.   The closest we get to the building image is found in 1 Peter 2:5: “And now God is building you, as living stones, into his spiritual temple.” (New Living Translation)  The Apostle Peter reminds us that we are a “spiritual temple” composed of “living stones.” Now the church in the first century understood and embraced this concept fully because they did not possess church buildings.  Acts 2:46 tells us that “They worshiped together at the Temple each day [and] met in homes for the Lord’s Supper.”  As the church spread rapidly, Christians would meet wherever they could find space: homes, fields, etc. And when the Roman Empire persecuted them, they dug holes underground called catacombs. (I have toured these subterranean dwellings near Rome and it was an unforgettable experience!)

                Ironically, God’s people have oftentimes seemed better off without official buildings. In China, where Christians are currently persecuted, (along with other religious groups) Christianity is exploding. And it is due to small groups of believers meeting in homes or secret places to worship and fellowship. They don’t have the option or resources to invest large sums of money into buildings. They meet where they can, when they can. I must admit, there is something refreshing about that.

                All of this helps me refocus my energy and attention onto people. Because after all, that is the heart of Christianity: a relationship with the Triune God and with people. No buildings required.

I don’t know if you like stats, but these stats are paradigm shifting for me. We need to pray and strategize (as leaders and churches) and most importantly, understand that WE ARE missionaries in Rhode Island. Please check out the link and my summary below:

*THE BOTTOM LINE:

Southeastern New England (Boston to Providence corridor) has the lowest percentage in the US of “evangelicals” and “born again Christians”.  It has the least “Christian oriented” population. It has the lowest rate of small-group participation in the US. It is where people are least likely to share their faith in Christ. It is the least likely place for people to believe in the sovereignty of God. It has the highest percent of “notional Christians,” atheists and agnostics!

http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/5-barna-update/173-godless-hollywood-bible-belt-new-research-exploring-faith-in-americas-largest-markets-produces-surprises

Summary of Barna Survey Results (24,000 adults in 86 largest metro areas):

*Of 86 US metro areas, Salt Lake City, Hartford, and Providence have the lowest proportion of evangelicals.

*In the US, 4/10 people are ‘born again Christian’ [not self-defined]. There were also six out of the 86 markets studied that had fewer than 25% of the adult public satisfying the born again standard. The lowest of those were Boston (21%) and Providence (21%).

*The Faith By Market  report estimates how Christian-oriented a market’s population is, based upon a combination of faith factors. The markets whose indexed score was at the bottom of the list were Boston and Providence, whose scores were 35% below the national norm.

*The three markets with the lowest rates of small group participation are Albany (NY), Boston and Providence.

*Adults are most likely to claim they have a responsibility to share their religious beliefs with other people if they live in Birmingham, Alabama. That perspective is least common in Providence and Green Bay.

*Believing that God is “the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the universe who still rules it today” is least predominant in Boston and San Francisco.

*The states with the lowest proportion of born again residents having shared their faith in Christ with a non-believer in the past year were Massachusetts and Tennessee.

*The largest percentage of adults who are “notional Christians” – that is, those who consider themselves to be Christian but are not born again – are found in Massachusetts and Wisconsin.  

*One out of every six residents of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Washington are atheist or agnostic – nearly double the national average.

It was our overwhelming joy when you were born on Tuesday, June 16, 2009 at Newport Hospital. You arrived two weeks early and with a delivery time of less than 40 minutes, faster than we could have imagined! But you and mommy were healthy and happy and so we thanked God.

 Since you came into this world right before the 4^th of July, I want to give you a brief history of “Independence Day” and update you on the current state of affairs of this great nation of which you are now a new citizen.  

 On July 2, 1776, at the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia, the 13 American Colonies voted to declare independence from Great Britain. On July 4^th, our Founding Fathers sealed their commitment to freedom by signing the Declaration of Independence. The famous preamble declares “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” John Adams, one of the “Committee of Five” that drafted the declaration,  penned a letter to his wife Abigail in which he said “The second day of July 1776 will be the most memorable epocha in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the Day of Deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.” In his Pulitzer Prize winning book “John Adams,” author David McCullough states “That the hand of God was involved in the birth of a new nation he had no doubt. ‘It is the will of heaven that the two countries should be sundered forever.’ ”

 Kelan, this nation was founded by people that believed deeply in God and in personal sacrifice. By breaking away from Great Britain, they were now traitors, to be hunted down and executed for rebelling against their mother nation. Now these men were imperfect: some had affairs and most possessed slaves. Yet they held the conviction that freedom was worth fighting for and dying for. They knew that God created a world in which you cannot have rights without responsibility.

 And that brings us to the year you were born. The USA is in a recession deeper than we have seen in the past 25 years, and perhaps even the greatest since the Great Depression of the 1930’s. Unemployment now stands at 9.1%. Our government is trillions of dollars in debt, much of which you will most likely inherit and pay for. Consumers, banks, and automakers are on the verge of failing or going into bankruptcy. Economists say our current situation is due to a “lack of regulatory oversight of financial markets.”  Theologians label it individual and corporate greed. A nation once founded on personal sacrifice has lately been driven by personal materialism and self-indulgence. Historically speaking, nations that continue on this trajectory are weakened until they implode from within and/or are defeated from without (i.e. see Roman Empire).    

 But Kelan, for better or for worse, your father is an optimist and not a chicken little. The 4^th of July is coming, and you can’t cry on the most important day of your nation’s history. However, you can choose to listen to your nation’s Founding Fathers who said that on this day, all Americans “ought to celebrate, commemorate, and do solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.” What are these solemn acts of devotion? Well, one night this same God Almighty appeared to King Solomon and said “…if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land”(2 Chronicles 7:14).

 My dearest Kelan, if it was God’s will that this nation be birthed, then perhaps it is God’s will that this nation be rescued and restored from its sinful choices. There is always grace and redemption when people look to God for help.

 That is what I want you to know this 4^th of July, and every 4^th of July in which you live and breathe in this great nation where you were born.

Your loving Daddy,

Paul Hoffman

            This past Mother’s day I took a brief sojourn to my hometown of Portland, Maine. I had not visited there in six years, which is a little less than 1/5^th of my life!  Since that time, I have lived in Massachusetts, Colorado and Rhode Island. I have worked in the business world, bought a house, had our first son, failed at planting a new church, and led the revitalization of an old church. Sad to admit, but in that short time I have also traveled to Italy, Poland, Israel, Switzerland, Germany, France and Jamaica. I feel like I have lived a lifetime in just 6 years!

Since a return to my old stomping grounds was long overdue, I headed 180 miles north on I-95. My first goal for this trip was to join my sister in taking my Mom out to lunch for Mother’s day. But my second goal was to reflect and reminisce in the place where I lived from grades five through twelve. Those were formative years with many struggles and successes.

Given the fact I only had two days to work with, I did a tour de force. After Mother’s Day lunch, we weaved around the Old Port of downtown Portland. We sauntered around the docks where we used to catch the ferry to Peak’s Island for our annual summer vacation. I stood in the pulpit of the church I attended during my teenage years. I then went out to dinner with my father at the Mexican restaurant where my sister works. Afterwards we watched the sunset on the Western Promenade and read the inscriptions on three hundred year old gravestones. The next day I poked around my old house: the pool I used to clean and do back flips into, my bedroom where I slept and did Spanish homework, the basement where I lifted weights. Every room evoked dozens of memories. Then we stopped by my high school, which has since been renovated and connected to the old junior high building. I spoke with my US History teacher and thanked her for helping give me a passion for the past. I walked around the track where I used to pole vault and do sprint relays. Then, to cap it all off, I visited with one of my best friends from high school, and got to meet her youngest daughter. After that I hit the road back to Newport.

            The whole experience was a bit surreal. Since I moved to Newport over two years ago, I have felt a gentle, yet persistent tug to return to my roots. When I finally got there, I did not know what to expect or how I would respond. Yet even though it seemed that Portland had changed, I realized I had changed vastly more. I was not the same person. This came through when my emotions varied widely: at times I felt a strong twinge of nostalgia while at other times I felt detached, like I was touring a museum and observing the exhibits.

            When it was all said and done, I was so glad that I went.  My time in Maine brought to mind a line from the Bon Jovi song Who Says You Can’t Go Home?: “You take the home from the boy, but not the boy from his home.” We are all shaped by our past: our experiences, our family, our education, our location. That is why one of key commands of the Bible is found in the word REMEMBER. According to the PC Study Bible, this word appears 167 times in the New International Version. In Deut. 5:15 God commanded the Israelites to “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outreached arm.” God constantly admonished his people to remember who he is, who they are, and what he has done for them.

            So you and I cannot forget to remember and to reflect. Our past has created our present. I am so glad for holidays such as Memorial Day, when we remember those who have paid the ultimate price in service to our nation. But remembering must become a constant companion in our daily lives.  Because when it isn’t, we lose sight of our very own identity.

It all started when my sister gave me the book Simplicity: The New Competitive Advantage in a World of More, Better, Faster. My sister is not even in the business world! Then one of my best friends got a job at a company that is hired by corporations such as Dominos Pizza and Alaskan Airlines in order to simplify its phone prompts and website interface so people can navigate as quickly and as easily as possible. Companies don’t want customers wasting time or getting frustrated buying their products! Then a pastor friend recommended I read the book Simple Church which discusses how churches can simplify their structure and “process for making disciples.” This book points out how the Ipod is designed for simplicity: it has one big button through which the user operates and accesses files. Furthermore, Google has a very streamlined and simple main page. And then yesterday I spoke with a Colonel in the Marines who is part of a think tank at the Navy War College. He attempted to explain to me the concept of “singularity.” According to Wikipedia “technological singularity” is a “theoretical future point that takes place during a period of unprecedented technological progress sometime after the creation of a Superintelligence.” Apparently, sometime between 2025—2030, one supercomputer will have more intelligence than all human beings on earth combined. Perhaps this computer will simplify a lot of problems. If it has the power to pay my bills and change diapers, sign me up!

Now all of this is nice in theory. But I am clergyman. On a daily basis I operate in the vast realm between God and people. In the midst of those two entities, nothing seems simple! Everything appears unwieldy and complex. For example, there is the seeming contradiction between God’s omniscience and human free will. I like how Rabbinic literature explains this problem: “Everything is foreseen; yet free will is given” (Sayings of the Fathers aka, Pirkei Avoth 3:15, Rabbi Akiva). Protestant theologian J.I. Packer, in his book Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, explains the conundrum of God’s sovereignty and human free will as an “antinomy,” as two opposing yet equally valid truths. Packer points out that light in an antinomy: it is both a wave and a particle. Does any of that sound simple to you?

And then we must face the complexity of human beings. Philosophers and theologians such as Plato, Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, Hegel, Nietzsche, and Sartre have debated as to what a human being is composed of for thousands of years. Are we body, soul, mind, being…some of the above…all the above?

If God and human beings are so complex, why are we trying so hard to simplify everything? Are we attempting to gain a sense of control by imposing false constructs that will never work? Are we creating a mirage and so deluding ourselves? Can anything be simple?

Well since I am a pastor, and Easter has just passed, it reminds me of a particular story regarding Karl Barth. Even though I personally do not agree with all of his teaching, Dr. Barth is considered to be one of the greatest theologians in church history. Pope Pius XII described him as the most important theologian since Aquinas. The story goes that once a reporter asked Dr. Barth if he could summarize the content of his many volumes of writing. He paused for a moment and then replied “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”

His response sounds so simple, almost too easy for a complex world. But it is a good start and I’ll hang my hat on it!

Have you ever witnessed an event which shocked you? Which put your life back into perspective? I experienced a moment like that a few days ago. Our church just commissioned its first ever, overseas, short-term missions team.  Ten people (including myself) spent a week in Jamaica serving the poor in Christ’s name.

Now lest you think we were there primarily to acquire a nice tan while making ourselves feel good by doing a few acts of kindness, you must understand the condition of this island nation.  There are two Jamaicas: the resort areas and the rest of the country.  For example, the average Jamaican survives on ten American Dollars a day!  The website www.CIA.gov states that Jamaicans face serious problems such as high inflation, high unemployment, and a high crime rate “including gang violence that is fueled by the drug trade.” 

This reality was made personal to us through an unpleasant incident. Our team was working in a small town called Zion, in the parish of Trewlany, which is east of Montego Bay.  We had been helping add an addition to a church, consisting of a bathroom, children’s church room and an office.  We were also involved in empowering Jamaicans through micro-enterprise development: building and repairing chicken coops and providing chicks and feed so the Jamaicans could support themselves.  On Monday, March 9 a delivery of chicks and bags of feed was dropped off a hundred yards from the church we were working at.  A crowd gathered and then the fireworks started!

We had a list of Jamaicans who were to receive this initial gift of chicks and chicken feed. One man who was a beneficiary of this generosity started yelling and swearing at two Jamaican women. He brandished a jack knife and waved it in the air as a show of force, to add emphasis to what he was saying (which is still unclear to me). He grew louder and more frenzied in his gestures until he slashed open a bag of feed to drive his point home. Afterwards, he calmed down and asked for forgiveness for his outburst. Even though we were not in physical harm, the chaos and confusion caused a few of our team members to become upset.  Consequently, we removed our team from the location to make sure everyone felt safe.

Before we left another unfortunate event occurred.  A Jamaican named Andy, who had been helping with the construction work at the church, stole five bags of feed during the chaos and sat on them. He was not scheduled to receive anything that day but took advantage of the situation.  A couple of his Jamaican friends and a few of our team members pleaded with him to return the bags, but he refused.  He starting sulking and cursing, saying this was his only chance to get a “break in life” and that he deserved it. We told him if he would just return the bags and apologize, we could bless him with chicks and feed in the future, but he flatly rejected us. 

Then one team member found Andy’s backpack at the church, gave it to him, and told Andy he should do the right thing, as he had just done the right thing in returning Andy’s back pack.  He explained to Andy that he could have kept the back pack, which was stealing, but instead returned it to him and implored him to do the same with the bags of feed.  Our team was dismayed when Andy missed the lesson and refused to show mercy as he had been shown mercy. 

That night, as our team processed the event, one of the things that struck me was the desperation that Andy must have felt to do something so stupid.  He was operating from a momentary outlook.  By stealing now, he ensured we would not give him anything in the future so as not to reward his bad behavior.  If he could have expressed his desires to us, we could have helped him soon thereafter.  But by publicly pilfering a few dollars worth of chicken feed, he forfeited the future blessings that could have been his. Therein lay the real tragedy of the situation.   

But I wondered aloud, apart from my Christian convictions, if I would have acted any differently than Andy.  If I felt his despair, would I have done the same thing?  Like so many things in life, I believe it all depends on your perspective.