Jesus at the Food Bank

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jack-levison/jesus-at-the-food-bank_b_4463402.html

Jack Levison
Author, 'Fresh Air: The Holy Spirit for an Inspired Life'



Posted: 12/20/2013 10:08 am

Even for people who aren't religious, now is the season of Altruism. We toss extra coins and bills in bright red Salvation Army pots. We respond to one or two extra appeals from the Union Gospel Mission or World Vision or Doctors Without Borders. We realize how fortunate we are to buy iphones or t-shirts or necklaces when others are out on the street, frigid.

But altruism goes beyond impersonal giving -- or at least it should. Altruism is a two way street. The homeless, the impoverished, of course, can't toss coins our way, but they can teach us a thing or two.

About Jesus, for instance. In a season when we sentimentalize him, when we imagine Jesus as a baby in a manger, we have lots to learn from people on the streets, from those who don't have a place to stay -- like, well, the baby Jesus and his parents in a barn.

I learned this a few months ago. I was puzzled, asking, "Who doesn't want mac and cheese?" I was ready to quip, "It's just plain un-American!" But Lucy said first, "People without a stove."

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