Eighteen more days!

No, not until the election! We are in Day Four of a three-week fund raiser for a hard-working African-American single mother-of-two who needs serious help buying a reliable used car to get to and from work.

First, I want to say how humbled (or is 'awed' a better word?) by the generosity of our good readers who have contributed so generously to this worthy cause thus far. Especially so, since we have no tax-exemption status to allow you to claim your donations on your taxes. And ALSO because, in keeping with the wishes of the woman we're trying to help, she understandably wishes not to have her name, photo, or personal details posted on the Internet. Which means that those of you who have already contributed so generously have done so in trust, by trusting me and what I've told you. That is humbling indeed.

Gifts have been coming in from as far away as Ireland! Generous gifts. In denominations of $15, $20, $25, $50, and $100. But we still have a long way to go if we're going to help this good lady buy reliable transportation. She needs our help.

I have never been a master of the "art of the deal," like Trump. I wouldn't know how to sell something to save my life. But when it comes to begging for help for someone else -- that I can do!

Here's how I look at it. Some people, through no fault of their own, find themselves in circumstances that haven't conduced to their financial advantage. I, through no merit of my own, find myself in circumstances that have conduced (at least modestly) to some financial advantage. Don't get me wrong: I'm no Trump. I'm a seminary professor, educated in the tastes of the wealthy gentleman living in a gated community, but with an income that wouldn't allow me to purchase even the gate house. I've never bought a new car in my life. But I have some expendable income. We can afford to dine out sometimes.

So I wonder how God sees us. On the one hand, here's a woman who isn't sitting on her haunches collecting welfare. She's working. She can make ends meet for the most part. But her hours are not quite full-time. She has virtually no money to put towards the purchase of a new pre-owned vehicle. She couldn't possibly afford monthly payments. On the other hand, here I sit in our modest dwelling, but virtually debt-free. We have some savings.

The moral calculus is easy. It's not rocket science. My parents loved the verse: "Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loves another has fulfilled the law." (Romans 13:8)

Then there's this, the last part of which one of my sons learned in Latin once: "But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver." (I Corinthians 9:6-7).

Please give generously.

If you cannot give money, please pray for the success of this fund-raiser; and pray for Tonya and her family.
Thank you!!