When the Money's Gone They Treat You Like a Dog

Our friend Justin led the free store conversation on Thursday morning and started by asking the question, " Is life unfair?"  Our new friend Andrew said that life was definitely not unfair.  He said that since Satan is the ruler of the world and since God turned the world over to Satan that to say the world was unfair was to blame God for being unfair.  A few others thought the world was unfair but didn't give any specifics.  At this our new friend Vic said, "I gave up tryin to make other people happy. I can make it better or worse by the choices I make."

Justin then asked, "Who would like to win the lottery?"  A lot of hands went up at this.  Justin said that even though we might think money is the solution to our problems that it might not be.  He told us that he had been thinking about Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 which was written by King Solomon, one of the richest and wisest men that ever lived.  "Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him--for this is his lot.  Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work--this is a gift of God.  He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart."

At this point our friend Andrew said that he had been thinking about something he read recently that said "In three words, what inspires you?"  He said that for him the three words were "God is alive."  He went on to say that "time is running out" because of the way that people were mistreating one another.  Our new friend Wendy said that she didn't understand why people didn't treat each other better.  She told us about a friend of hers that just doesn't get along with her mother.  Wendy said, "I take my mother everywhere with me."  She asked, "How can you love God and hate your mother?"

As the conversation progressed Vic said that he thought people were "so deep in the things of the world that they don't see that life is the most precious thing in the world."   He told us about a friend of his whose brother had died recently.  Vic said that his friend had punched his brother in the mouth before he died and hand't apologized or told his brother that he loved him and now he was living with guilt about it.  Andrew said that since people are created by God, "you are the most important thing in the world.  Be grateful to God."

As the conversation moved to a conclusion Justin encouraged us to "make the most of what you have" rather than "always wanting more."  He said "don't hoard stuff" because it "won't make you happy" which made us laugh.  Someone said that spending our lives getting more stuff is like a dog chasing its tail which is an amusing but ultimately pointless activity.  At this someone said, "When you got money they treat you nice, but when the money's gone they treat you like a dog."  Another friend said, "Tomorrow never comes.  It's always today, today, today.  And what you do today will count."