cash flow

I find myself in relative penury this past few weeks, although I wince
even as I write that as I look at the people around who are truly in
need while I sit here writing on my laptop with my collection of DVD's
and books in the other room, a freezer full of donated coffee from
overseas, and a pile of blankets on my floor to be given away. That
being said, I've been down to about $10 of cash for about 2 weeks, which
has forced me to make some interesting sacrifices (do I really need
butter on my toast? does the scooter really need to have its chain
repaired? what can I make for Easter dinner out of some potatoes and
evaporated milk?) and also forced me to have some hard conversations
with people when they come asking for assistance, loans, etc. which is
pretty common. I tend to respond to the needs that I have laid in front
of me, which when combined with extra expense for the labor on the
tennis court and lack of transport to the capital from whence all money
flows has put me in a bind.
I'm reminded that 'blessed are the poor' (not that I'm one of the poor,
as is very clear to me here) as per Ms. Hellwig:
- the poor know they are in urgent need of redemption
- the poor know not only their dependence on God but also their
interdependence on other people
- the poor rest their security on people, not things
- the poor have no exaggerated sense of their own importance
- the poor can distinguish between luxuries and necessities
- the poor can wait, because they have acquired patience in waiting for
needs to be filled
- the fears of the poor are more realistic and less exaggerated
- to the poor, the gospel sounds like good news and not like a threat
or scolding
These things are brought home to me right now in ways that I don't
usually feel in the states.