Three Dollars Per Day - Thursday

Breakfast
Coffey - $0.10
Lunch
Baked Beans - $0.30
Green Beans - $0.15
Mac&Cheese - $0.20
Dinner
Chicken Gumbo - $2.70
Snacks
Can of Soda - $0.25
Glass of Milk - $0.15

Total: $3.85
Week to Date: $11.45

Well as you can see that chicken gumbo was a killer for the daily budget, but by spending less the first two days, I could afford it today. My goal is to spend only $15 in five days, not just $3/day.

Three Dollars Per Day - Wednesday

Breakfast
Coffey - $0.10
Lunch
Baked Beans - $0.30
Green Beans - $0.15
Mac&Cheese - $0.20
Dinner
Flavored Rice - $1.40
Salad - $.50
Snacks
Two Cans of Soda - $0.50
Glass of Milk - $0.15

Total: $3.30
Week to Date: $7.60

Three Dollars Per Day - Tuesday

Breakfast
Coffey - $0.10
Lunch
PB&H - $0.25
Baby Carrots - $0.25
Dinner
Baked Beans - $0.50
Green Beans - $0.25
Mac&Cheese - $0.30
Two slices of bread & butter - $0.20
Snacks
Can of Soda - $0.25
Glass of Milk - $0.15

Total: $2.25
Week to Date: $4.30

Three Dollars Per Day - Monday

Breakfast
Coffey - $0.10
Lunch
Apple - $0.75
Dinner
Two PB&J sandwiches - $0.50
Glass of milk - $0.20
Snacks
Slice of bread & butter - $0.10
Glass of Milk - $0.15
Can of Soda - $0.25

Total: $2.05

ps I drank plenty of watter for free.

Governor Challenges Oregonians to Food Stamp Challenge

“I challenge all Oregonians to experience first-hand what thousands of Oregon families go through everyday,” said Governor Kulongoski. “Budgeting just $1 a meal each day for food, and trying to make that food nutritious, is a difficult task that sadly is a reality for too many Oregonians and their families.”

“Many of us will never know what it’s like not to know where our next meal will come from or whether we’ll have enough food in the cupboard to make it through the week,” Governor Kulongoski continued. “My hope is that by participating in the food stamp challenge, Oregonians will gain a better understanding of what hundreds of thousands of Oregonians experience each month as they try to afford meet their families’ basic needs – transportation, housing, child care, health care – and food.”

Read article here.

So I think I'm going to take on this challenge of eating on three dollars per day for the next five days. It's just kind of a way for me to identify in one small way with people in need.

Wondering what one can eat for a week on three dollars per day? I'll keep you updated here on the blog.

What is my obligation to those who suffer?

After I sent that e-mail to Brandon, (see previous post) we talked about what i was struggling with the next Sunday. (specifically I'm struggling with the gap between halves and halve nots, and questions on suffering. In this case I have great health and Brandon does not.)

When we had talked the previous Sunday, he wasn't so sure i owed him anything, but after reading my e-mail he could see where I was coming from. However he still had some concerns. The main one was dependency. From the disabled person's perspective, it isn't going to do much good to go around thinking that people owe them. A wow-is-me attitude is a recipe for disaster for the disabled person.

Brandon also wanted to make perfectly clear that I was never going to be able to identify with him in any real physical way. In other words i could have empathy, but never sympathy, which I completely agree with.

Brandon's other concern was a little broader, dealing with the matter of Biblical interpretation. "How does one know they are doing justice to the intentions of the original authors of the Bible and what does that have to do with the hear and now?" was essentially what Brandon was saying, in this case on the matter of suffering and sharing each others burdens. All I'll say here is: exactly.

What Brandon and I finally agreed on is that in his case maybe there is little I can or even should do for him physically speaking, but there are many that don't have the resources he does. Cyra, his wife, is an amazing woman, marrying this man in spite of the condition that has landed him in a wheal chair. (or maybe because of it, I don't know) If anyone suffers right along side Brandon, it is certainly her, setting an amazing example for all of us. Additionally, Brandon owns his own business. He's not rich by American standards, but he has what he needs. Unfortunately this is not the case for everyone who lives life from a chair on wheels. Many many people are not only poor but suffer a great deal do to physical handicaps. So my questions remains. In light of what the scriptures say (see previous post) what is my obligation to those who suffer?

My Friend In a Wheal Chair

Here is a e-mail I sent to Brandon, friend of mine who is in a wheal chair. We were talking about how I (and you) can identify with people who suffer and do something about it. (sometimes)

It's just a peak into what the Bible says about suffering and some of the things I'm thinking about.

In the next post I'll share some of the things Brandon said in response.

Brandon,

Here are some of those Bible passages I mentioned in our conversation this past Sunday.

On the matter of suffering.

Paul's call to ministry explicitly mentions suffering

Acts 9:15
¹⁵But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. ¹⁶I will show him how much he must suffer for my name."

Here Paul teaches the church in Philipi that they are called to suffer.

Philippians 1:29
²⁹For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him

Here Paul says that we should expect to suffer because we are Christians. Specifically look at vs 13, wow!

1 Peter 1:12-19
¹²Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. ¹³But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. ¹⁴If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. ¹⁵If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. ¹⁶However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. ¹⁷For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? ¹⁸And, "If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?" ¹⁹So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

And the most amazing/disconcerting passage of all

Philipians 3:7-10
⁷But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ ⁹and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. ¹⁰I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Now if you set these side by side with the Bibles teachings on sharing each others burdens, and helping one another, and the fact that we all make up one church, one body, what are the implications for daily living?

Romans 12:14-16
¹⁴Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ¹⁵Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. ¹⁶Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.^[c] Do not be conceited.

How low do the positions need to be that i need to associate with? Is there any valid excuse not to?

Romans 12:3-5
³For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. ⁴Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, ⁵so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

1 Cor 12:24-26
But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, ²⁵so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. ²⁶If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

In what respect do I suffer with you Brandon? Honestly, I don't think that I do.

And if we put all of this in a global information society, one in which I am keenly aware of the suffering of others on a global scale, how should I respond?

What is my obligation, when Pastor Dan teaches that we should throw off everything that so easily entangles? More specifically, what is stopping me from sharing in and/or alleviating the suffering of others to a much much greater extent?!