Salvation Army Week

When William Booth founded the Salvation Army in 1865, he did it in response to need.  The needs of the poor who were excluded from the Churches in London.

The poor were hungry, ill, dirty, and hopeless.  Some Churches put up screens to hide them from the rest of the congregation.  And with that, General Booth founded the Salvation Army.

He founded The Salvation Army on Christian Principles summed up in a single word:  Others.

As he was nearing the end of his days, and with the convention nearing, everyone was eager to hear what may have been his last message.  However, he was too ill to attend.  So he sent a telegram to all the Salvation Army Officers in the world. It contained one word.  Others.


This photo was taken on Shield Day.  And here I am in my blue Salvation Army Polo Shirt with the red Shield on it.  

Serving as a  volunteer, in the Food Pantry, and the Corps, and as a Bell Ringer during Kettle Season, has been some of the most rewarding times of my life.  Certainly the best Christmases ever.  However....

In a few years I will be 70.  By then, I will have served for 10 years as a Bell Ringer for the Red Kettle drive.  However, this year I had to end my service.  Not due to the pandemic, but because I don't have the stamina to serve.  That is why I posted this article.  To help as best I can.  Please join me in helping the Salvation Army:

Doing what matters, because starving people can't eat symbolic gestures.

Here are some ways to help.

Others

The Salvation Army--Pen Argyl
301 West Main Street
Pen Argyl, PA 18072
Payable to:  [ Salvation Army Pen Argyl ]

or

The Salvation Army 


And remember....


OTHERS

God Bless you all.



Sincerely

Slim. 

Childhood Obesity in America: A Moral Issue

What do people around the world see?  Believe?

Poor people in third world nations and in emerging nations do not analyze graphs and data.  They know what they see around them and what they hear from their leaders; and from the opposition.

If leaders say the US feeds poor starving children around the world, will they believe it if they are surrounded by poor starving children?  Will they believe the opposition leaders who tell them that the US does not feed poor starving children?

On to emerging nations: those nations with Internet access.  What do they hear, what do they see?  America suffers [suffers?] from an epidemic of childhood obesity.

To the rest of the world, childhood obesity in America is a moral issue.

What makes this a moral issue is that they also hear that 40% of American children go to be hungry.  Why?  Because they have no food.   

Elsewhere, being fat is a sign of prosperity.  They hear that in America, obesity is a sign of poverty.

It is about time that we rethink the way we see ourselves.

O wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!
It wad frae mony a blunder free us,
An' foolish notion:
What airs in dress an' gait wad lea'e us,
An' ev'n devotion! -- Robert Burns

Translation:

And would some Power the small gift give us
To see ourselves as others see us!
It would from many a blunder free us,
And foolish notion:
What airs in dress and gait would leave us,
And even devotion! 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_a_Louse

Regards, 

Slim

slimfairview@yahoo.com

Copyright (c) 2012 Slim Fairview