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2

It’s expensive to be poor

Posted by Pat on February 19, 2023 in Uncategorized |

It’s probably because I’m working on my tax returns that I’m more sensitive to the contrast between expensive and cheap, between well off and poor. And I have to admit that I feel fortunate that I haven’t really had to struggle with poverty. But my awareness of the extreme differences in our society has been sharpened. And it makes me sad.

Socio-economic unfairness means that it’s expensive to be poor. When you don’t have much money, you can only buy lower quality products at a lower price but such products don’t last very long. So you have to replace them more quickly.

Still a bit vague?

For a quick example, the author Terry Pratchett gives a great explanation of socio-economics in his book Men at Arms:

Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of okay for a season or too and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, costs ten dollars. (…)

But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that’d still be keeping his feet dry in ten years’ time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.

Poverty is expensive because it is a multiplier of problems. It makes a person postpone their needs because they can’t afford them now…until they have to pay more for those needs later when they can’t live without them.

And I realize that these thoughts don’t really even begin to dive into the extreme poverty of so many people on this planet of ours.

We must do more for others.

I must do more.

2

from a kid’s view…

Posted by Pat on February 12, 2023 in Uncategorized |

In honor of this month’s focus on ‘meaningful’ relationships, this post shares some fun statements youngsters have made about love and marriage! HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHOM TO MARRY? You got to find somebody who likes the same stuff. Like, if you like sports, she should like it that you like sports, and she should […]

1

Are you wintering?

Posted by Pat on February 5, 2023 in Uncategorized |

Here’s a thought-provoking word: wintering. I enjoyed reflecting on Katherine May’s words in my recently-read Wintering: the Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times. She describes it as those moments when life turns cold through crisis or loss and we find ourselves living at a different, slower pace. Wintering is a process by which […]

1

Let Go?!

Posted by Pat on January 29, 2023 in Uncategorized |

There’s many a lesson I’m still learning, and this is one of them! LETTING GO(D) doesn’t mean not caring, it means not taking responsibility for someone else. LETTING GO(D) doesn’t mean cutting myself off from others, it means realizing that I can’t control others. LETTING GO(D) doesn’t mean caring for, it means caring about. LETTING […]

1

Skating on thin ice?

Posted by Pat on January 22, 2023 in Uncategorized |

When I’m experimenting with something new, I’m often a bit tentative, not sure that what I’m messing around with is solid enough to hold the full weight of my being. In times like these, I picture myself standing on the edge of a frozen body of water, asking “Is this ice thick enough to hold […]

This crazy language of ours

Posted by Pat on January 15, 2023 in Uncategorized |

Ah, the delightful quirks of the English language-a language with so many rules and far too many exceptions. But English was invented by people, not computers. It reflects the creativity of the human race which, of course, is not a race at all. After all, there is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger, […]

4

a different serenity prayer!

Posted by Pat on January 8, 2023 in Uncategorized |

We all may know the basic Serenity Prayer, but have you see some of the tweaked ones? Here are some…and you may know of others! My favorite one (which I couldn’t find an image for) is… “God, grant me the serenity to accept there are things I’ve no time to read, time to read the […]

1

A blank calendar…

Posted by Pat on January 1, 2023 in Uncategorized |

I love putting up a brand new calendar! As I look at the pictures and the day the holidays and my birthday will fall on, I love seeing all the white spaces. Each square is ready and waiting for me to write in whatever I want. Before we begin filling in those white spaces, we […]

1

Revised Christmas to-do list!

Posted by Pat on December 25, 2022 in Uncategorized |

Here’s my suggested revised list for the season! BUY PRESENTS (be present!) 2. WRAP GIFTS (wrap someone in a hug) 3. SEND GIFTS (send love) 4. SHOP FOR FOOD (donate food) 5. MAKE COOKIES (make memories) 6. SEE THE LIGHTS (be the light) Blessings to everyone this holiday season!

The Weight of a Snowflake

Posted by Pat on December 18, 2022 in Uncategorized |

Enjoy this winter parable! When we become discouraged by the seeming immensity of the task before us…remember this little fable about a conversation between two birds…a dove and a sparrow. “Tell me the weight of a snowflake,” a sparrow asked a wild dove. “Nothing more than nothing,” was the answer. “In that case I must […]

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