Bored? Help someone!

Jesus told this story: "A rich man had a farm with lots of crops. `I know what to do with all the food!' he thought. `I'll build big barns for it and then party, because I'll have food for years to come!' But God said, `You fool! You're going to die tonight. What will happen to all you saved up?'" Jesus finished, "That's what happens when people keep everything for themselves, but aren't rich in what matters to God. Don't worry about what you'll eat or wear. The birds and flowers don't, and God takes care of them!"

The news is full of pictures of kids doing fun things this summer: swimming, laughing on amusement park rides, winning prizes at church festivals. But if you look, you'll also see other pictures of kids using some of their vacation time to help other people: working as camp counselors, going to other countries to help the poor -- even volunteering at church festivals!

It's easy to have fun by keeping everything good you get, like money and free time, for yourself. But in this week's Gospel (Luke 12:13-21), a man finds out that isn't the way to live a good life.

Summer is always fun at first, because you have so much time where you don't have school, sports or other scheduled activities. You want to hang out and do nothing! But that gets boring before long.

The rich man in the Gospel story probably learned that. When he had extra food, he wanted to store it and forget the rest of the world. Who cares if other people went hungry, as long as he could relax?

The kids on the news helping others are a good example of what God told the rich man: If you're greedy and don't share what you have -- time, money, talents or energy -- other people will hurt. When you have free time, Jesus said, there are lots of ways to spend it besides hanging out and getting bored!

(7/22/04)