Today, an employee at a local store where I sometimes shop, told me how much she admired Will Smith the entertainer and philanthropist. It was my first time that I paid this new clerk for 3 items on my shopping list. And for years I’ve supported this business and appreciated its employees’ hard work. Anyway, today this person praised Mr. Smith for his giving his money to impoverished persons (according to her). And, she expressed at the same time, how she resented a prior customer’s complaint of her about “how items were bagged (or not bagged)”. A rather loaded conversation, this was the first time that a local employee gave PR to me for a celebrity, while I was paying. I found it rather unsuitable and not very professional. But, in a way, I should thank her… because in this case, at this Christmas season, one where many active duty members finally return to their families (discharged) with night terrors, P.T.S.D., psychoses, lost limbs, physical wounds, and deeply emotionally scarred families that have been separated for far too long from one another, they may not feel as “blessed” as she reportedly is. What I’m saying, is that this clerk gave me inspiration to thread the needle between celebrity donation, employee conduct, and biblical truth. She has every right to be thankful to God for everything she has, as I do. And, so I don’t totally find consternation with what she said. But, insertion of her opinion and judgment about a man, was something I didn’t wholehearted appreciate. Would the store treat me better if I were to agree with her who the heroes are or are not? Do retailers have a right to represent who their favorite customers are to other customers? Which celebrities a store clerk endorses? No. It really does not matter. Every store should be grateful to every customer who pays even as little as a penny for merchandise. And, every customer is a hero in his or her own right – who supports that business. This has nothing to do with whether that customer is famous, or not.<\/p>\n
I generally believe that small talk is for small folk, and so I rarely like to talk with people who are service providers, unless I find that they’ve proven themselves to be good and loyal employees. Furthermore, I try to avoid picking favorites and getting into useless quibbles about preferences in personality of other people.<\/p>\n
What I look for as a paying customer, is: are they able to be disciplined employees? Can they tolerate correction? Do they place their job duty and service above small talk? And above all, are they SILENTLY grateful for my patronage?<\/p>\n
Anyway, after what happened today, I seize the opportunity to weave this little encounter with biblical teaching about material wealth, and how our attitude should be adjusted or best realigned – in perceptions of fame and fortune; and how praise of celebrity amounts to idolatry, in the Christmas season (and at other times) in America.<\/p>\n
While I personally never judged Mr. Smith with critique about his money, nor with praises regarding his spending habits (which are quite frankly his own business – keep it to yourself); and rather simply made up my own mind as to his personality just like anyone else did and does – (irregardless of how much money he has or not this time of year) many of us in America, eat the “fat” that he does, to celebrate the good fortune some of us are blessed with. The intoxication of the “fat” may however not be the most sacred way of celebrating our freedom. In fact it’s not.<\/p>\n
Instead of loudly gloating to all people about “how fortunate we all are” (as the clerk said to me), based on the size of the turkey or number of family and friends sitting at our private banquets, let’s be a bit more empathetic to those who aren’t doing that at all. Not everyone, is as fortunate as you might be. Perhaps the person is lonely and incarcerated, fearing for his or her life, or is similarly deathly ill. Perhaps they are separated from loved ones. Perhaps they are fighting our wars and not feeling the Christmas spirit! Yet they might be among the purest of heart… most worthy, and making God above, gleam with the hugest smile. Perhaps in God’s eyes, we are thieves, while they are the ones with most worthy of character. Not everyone enjoys riches of material nature. So, instead of gloating publicly to all (as many throughout history have) in an insensitive manner… fawning over your own blessed state, sing praises to your God alone! And, shut up or silence those who sing praises to you for your good deeds! If it is at all possible to do.<\/p>\n
You can sing praise to God in your thoughts, in singing, in worship, in actually spending time with God in his House, or wherever you are. Speak to Him with what is on your heart. You don’t have to be a word-smith (no pun intended) to do this. Pray.<\/p>\n
Tell Him what your needs and desires are. You are His child. We are not your creator, He is. Don’t sing praises to us! He is the God who can take all of anyone’s “fat” away at a moment’s notice. Do your good deeds not for public praises, but to be charitable in love of neighbor, so that another can have… and can experience some of the pleasures of the “fat”. Or, simply have basic needs met that too many take for granted. Its taught in the bible. I’m not saying anything that hasn’t been known before.If all you can do for someone is pray, do it!<\/p>\n
Those of us who are richly blessed, have a responsibility to not sing praise among ourselves… pat ourselves on the back; rather, to act and behave in a way that Christians and many people of many faith know as “brotherly love”\/conduct – a very Catholic concept.<\/p>\n
And, we are to expect nothing in return from the media, from the direct recipient, or anyone else who cannot pay us back – for doing exactly that which we should. The beneficiary is the one who might have it far more difficult than you. So your so-called “charity” might even actually be what you might “owe” them!<\/p>\n
Whether that benefit of charity to the giver be for fame or more fortune, the gain is to be had for the beneficiary. Yet, in giving, we also receive. And that is OK too!<\/p>\n
God will pour increase upon us, when we sing praise to Him for anything and everything that we have. That includes for Mr. Will Smith – much to the employee’s satisfaction – I described as having encountered today. And, we applaud all generosity silently. Fellow man might rather steal from us and kill us. But, God helps those who turn to Him for all the answers and blessings. We need to ask Him how we can get what we need. And we need to comply with His answers!<\/p>\n
Recently, at a mini mart in Southern CA, a man was attacked with a hatchet. The motive was reported as “retaliation for the extension of kindness, by way of offering to pay the tab for merchandise”. This is horrific. This, and events like those, should teach us that giving a helping hand is not always a smart thing to do. So, when we donate, we should be encouraged to do so anonymously and in safe ways. Celebrity praises can also stoke hostilities and hatred. This is all the more reason, for celebrities (and the rest of us) to exercise discreet means of donating. There are safer ways to donate, while there are more dangerous ways to.<\/p>\n
And, then we can also thank God, for everything that we have.<\/p>\n
Of course, God-loving people are sometimes among the first to be robbed, and bad things do happen to seemingly good people and very kind people along with those who are not. Perhaps those persons such as Mrs.Kanye West, was one who survived assault… because she loves God?
\nThe point is this: whether materially poor or not, famous or not, we should never deify ourselves or place others in such high esteem, that we forget that every one of us is touched by God, unique, and gifted. We are all accountable to Him, not to ourselves. Some of us just happen to get an easier path, a lot of luck and help along the way, or we’re smarter than the next person. And, others work hard with little gain. So your life status is no indication of how much you are loved by God.<\/p>\n
Our chances for eternal riches are better though, as we choose to do as He taught us. Whether
\nwe do so from a mighty palace or in a little shop on the edge of town, we all have a purpose and many missions in life. Being grateful is good, but so too is being generous with what little or lot you have received. So, I’d like to thank the store clerk for motivating me to write this post. Happy Holidays, and may God bless you and us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today, an employee at a local store where I sometimes shop, told me how much she admired Will Smith the entertainer and philanthropist. It was my first time that I paid this new clerk for 3 items on my shopping …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-entertainment","category-health-and-wellness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.film-shorts.tv\/wpress.cfonseca160\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.film-shorts.tv\/wpress.cfonseca160\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.film-shorts.tv\/wpress.cfonseca160\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.film-shorts.tv\/wpress.cfonseca160\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.film-shorts.tv\/wpress.cfonseca160\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2151"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.film-shorts.tv\/wpress.cfonseca160\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2151\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2159,"href":"https:\/\/www.film-shorts.tv\/wpress.cfonseca160\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2151\/revisions\/2159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.film-shorts.tv\/wpress.cfonseca160\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.film-shorts.tv\/wpress.cfonseca160\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.film-shorts.tv\/wpress.cfonseca160\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}