WHEN in the course of human Events, it becomes necessary….
Noted In Passing: Brielle Dior
byVanderleunonJune 9, 2022
From Brielle Dior [A great American. You’ll see.]
6.45K subscribers
Well, I’m all outta meals. . . but I’m really glad my time was spent well. . . I’m blessed that I’m blessed to bless.
“I woke up and decided I wanted to spend my last $17 on helping some people who may need it more than I do. With that, I figured I could feed ‘at least’ 24 people with that amount and headed to the store and made the easiest meal (and every failed housewife’s favorite), chicken Alfredo.
“I did this with 3 goals in mind— to brighten someone’s day, fulfill part of my purpose and encourage those who watch this to do an act of kindness!
“Also, unlike my other videos, I am not getting paid for this. This video is unmonetized due to the music and I decided to keep the music and choose to not make profit from this video!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
If you ever wanted to know how to feed a lot of people in need with sensitivity and respect, this is pretty much the textbook.
Wow! I am impressed. She’s selflessly doing exactly what the Lord asks all of us to do. I hope she remains safe.
Gandalf CarlinJune 9, 2022, 3:49 PM
The amount of waste at stores and restaurants is appalling.
Local church pantries go through some of the stuff and it is put to good use.
Every little bit adds up.
The world needs Brielle Diors. But how many? Imagine a society comprised of nothing but men and women as she is. Would it survive? Remember Jesus Himself when He said, “…that if any would not work, neither should he eat.”—2 Thessalonians 3:10. Was Christ making a joke? Did He say, “Well, except for the homeless.”?
Brielle Dior feels good for what she has done. Good for her! But what of society in general? Is it better off? Worse off? Is a society to be governed by feelings? Are we to measure national success by the number of homeless who need constant feedings?
Compassion unhinged from reason makes the problem worse. An empty belly works wonders for those living off handouts from whatever source.
A masculine, muscular society could end homelessness in a fortnight. A society based upon compassion alone will have the homeless with them for all time. Really, cui bono?
We cannot all be as Brielle Dior. We need our Achilles as well. Do not let your heart override your reason.
BroKenJune 10, 2022, 6:34 AM
“Imagine a society comprised of nothing but men and women as she is. Would it survive?”
I bet it would because she’s not compassion alone nor is she lazy. May her tribe increase!
Mike, your scripture is Paul, not Christ, but let’s not quibble. Christ did say you WILL always have poor with you so that you can be generous to them. Generosity doesn’t have to be enabling. The benefit is to the society itself when it is generous and compassionate without being enabling.
One of my favorite parables, not scripture, is the banquet table with people starving on one side because their elbows don’t bend and they can’t get the food and drink to their mouths so they sit and stare at the banquet and starve…Hell! On the other side of the table people are eating and laughing and singing and having a wonderful time. They have the same stiff elbows but on that side of the table they feed each other. Heaven! Exact same situation. The only difference is the lack of pride and the presence of compassion in people’s hearts.
Has there ever been a nation comprised of nothing but compassionate altruists? Please let me know.
“…your scripture is Paul, not Christ, but let’s not quibble.” You call questioning the authorship of the Bible “quibbling”? I have yet to meet a Christian of any denomination—and I have never heard of a Christian of any denomination—who would make such a claim. Either Paul was inspired by the Holy Ghost or he was not. Either the Bible is in its entirety God’s Word, or it is not. If the Bible is not inspired, then toss it in the rubbish heap for it is full of lies and false claims.
Cute story—and totally secular—but in Heaven we will not feed each other. God will undertake that task. He is, after all, the Bread of Life.
BroKenJune 10, 2022, 9:40 AM
“Has there ever been a nation comprised of nothing but compassionate altruists? Please let me know.”
Of course not. But you said “imagine”. I took you at your word. And it just might be God’s word.
Yes, the scripture is God’s word, so let’s not quibble about the word “inspiration”.
I think you miss the point of the parable. It isn’t about who feeds who but about the elimination of pride and the increase of compassion and how that changes everything. Yes, He is the Bread of Life, and He feeds us who are totally unworthy. Personally, I think He asks us to follow His example.
It is quite possible that I missed the point of the story. I knew though that it had nothing to do with Heaven. There, Pride does not and cannot exist, and no one there needs instruction—that is what Purgatory is for: instruction, cleansing and preparation.
BalzoaJune 9, 2022, 6:04 PM
Very Cool. She’s is (figuratively) a Jehovah’s Witness.
sjdJune 9, 2022, 11:10 PM
Mike, 2 Thessalonians is considered one of the Deutero-Pauline Letters, written in the style of Paul and signed in Paul’s name to give it authenticity. When Christ was among his disciples, even until The Ascension, the believers thought that the End of Days would be very soon. As time went on the congregations needed to establish boundries and institutional norms. Many of the practices tightened down for what was becoming a much longer term project than even Christ had intimated. The Words of Christ himself would not have authorized a stable society.
The authorship of Thessalonians 2 is in no way settled, though you implied it is. It is a matter still hotly debated by Protestant theologians. Since I am not one of those rara aves, I will not discuss its authorship save to write that, since I am a Catholic, the author is Paul. QED.
The Catholic RSV translation:
“For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat.”
I take Christ at His word and believe what He said.
The debate over the meaning and intentions of Thessalonians 2 is as well hotly debated—and will be so until Christ returns. That at least is not open to debate.
ghostsniperJune 10, 2022, 4:47 AM
LAST $17?
Yeah right.
BroKenJune 10, 2022, 6:41 AM
I thought that, too. She is certainly not like the widow who gave all she had to live on. But she still gives a good lesson that is worth emulating. May her tribe increase.
AggieJune 11, 2022, 7:45 AM
You know, nobody is asking to put on violet glasses and pick up pom poms over this girl’s story, but on the other hand, nobody asked for sh*t on the carpet either.
A person could do some volunteer work at a Food Panty for a while. You might be surprised what a good front desperate people can put up when they suddenly lose their job and are clinging to the life they can’t make payments on. Some even do it for the sake of their kids.
DennyJune 10, 2022, 6:07 AM
If you want the wild animals to feed themselves, you should NOT allow them to build
their own zoo.
JackJune 10, 2022, 6:41 AM
No doubt about it, this girl is doing a good thing, delivering some food and compassion at the same time. It probably comes in handy to these street peeps who are in such dire straights and I don’t care if she’s a JW, a Moonie, a Rashneesh or a Morman, her action falls in line with traits that we all usually find honorable and good.
But on the other hand Austin is right and I have always agreed. You don’t work and contribute…you don’t eat. That is Biblical too and if our government would apply that very logical principle to its administration of our professional welfare class eventually the pain of doing without might foster a wee bit of work on the part of those who spend their lives working to evade it.
As an aside, earlier in the week I heard a news broadcaster reporting that summer camps in some area were not being opened this year due to the inability of the owners to find qualified people to work, who would work.
OneGuyJune 10, 2022, 6:48 AM
‘Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.’
It can be more beneficial in the long run to teach a person how to do something than to do that something for them.
These people need help giving them food merely kicks that can down the road.
BroKenJune 10, 2022, 9:53 AM
‘Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.’
Whenever I see that I can’t help but think of Hank in Corner Gas, “Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day. But teach a man to feed the fish and ’round and ’round we go.”
When people are in a hole and need help climbing out, a little incentive (like a fish or a kind word) can go a long way to motivate them. Often the hole is spiritual. They don’t think they are worthy (they are right since none of us are) so they need to be convinced that they can become so by God’s grace. It is amazing how God can use something like a small box of pasta to challenge the lie of hopelessness. It does not always “kick the can down the road.” It can raise it to the heavens!
We have all heard that axiom about teaching a man to fish. I would like to add “The Austin Corollary”: Give a man an AK and he will not need to learn to fish—but he will eat and protect nonetheless. What is better use to a man when SHTF: a fishing pole or an AK?
Your mileage may vary. But not mine. Remember that “an AK will get you through times of no food better than food will get you through times of no AK.”
Another “Austin Corollary”: Pacifists, the unarmed, the cowardly and the weak have no effect upon History. No one cares about them. We care about Achilles and his Myrmidons, not their maids, their butlers and their street sweepers.
One might squeal: “But what of Gandhi? Did not he teach us otherwise?” Yes he did. What happened to him?
VanderleunJune 10, 2022, 4:53 PM
GHANDI? He ended up taking up the Fabulous Furry Freakbrothers mantra, “Dope will get you through times without money better than money will get you through times without dope.” (Then again maybe Ghandi and the Freakbros lived in a high-trust society.)
Gandhi was one of the weirdest weirdoes in all of History. That 1982 Richard Attenborough movie about him was all fantasy and fabulist nonsense. The real Gandhi was obsessed with his morning bowel movements and enjoyed as an 70 year old man sleeping naked with his granddaughters.
Gandhi was in every sense a proto-member of that post-colonial clown world of Mobuto, Kuanda, Kenyatta, Nehru and other such semi-literate flotsam. That Muslim guy who shot him did the world a favor.
And I did steal that quote from the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers. Bless ’em all! I miss them and the times they represented.
VanderleunJune 10, 2022, 7:13 PM
Yes. There was a great expose on Ghandi back about 20 plus year ago. I’ll see if I can find it.
GANDHI rose early, usually at three-thirty, and before his first bowel movement
(during which he received visitors, although possibly not Margaret Bourke-White)
he spent two hours in meditation, listening to his “inner voice.” Now Gandhi was
an extremely vocal individual, and in addition to spending an hour each day in
vigorous walking, another hour spinning at his primitive spinning wheel, another
hour at further prayers, another hour being massaged nude by teenage girls, and
many hours deciding such things as affairs of state, he produced a quite
unconscionable number of articles and speeches and wrote an average of sixty
letters a day. All considered, it is not really surprising that his inner voice
said different things to him at different times. Despising consistency and never
checking his earlier statements, and yet inhumanly obstinate about his position
at any given moment, Gandhi is thought by some Indians today (according to V.S.
Naipaul) to have been so erratic and unpredictable that he may have delayed
Indian independence for twenty-five years.
For Gandhi was an extremely difficult man to work with. He had no partners, only
disciples. For members of his ashrams, he dictated every minute of their days,
and not only every morsel of food they should eat but when they should eat it.
Without ever having heard of a protein or a vitamin, he considered himself an
expert on diet, as on most things, and was constantly experimenting.
I have read a great deal of Grenier. “The Marrakesh One-Two” is a classic. He died too soon. But maybe we all do.
Gordon ScottJune 10, 2022, 7:00 AM
I talked to a Walmart manager in one of the best suburban stores, last night. I was shocked to see his back room aisles jammed with pallets of merchandise. Not enough help to get it on the floor. He was working back in sporting goods, stacking pricey ice chests. He has more important stuff to do. But there is no one to stack the ice chests.
Eliminate government handouts and Wal-Mart would have 1000 job applicants the next day. Nothing says “get off your ass” like an empty stomach.
DennyJune 10, 2022, 8:16 AM
“Nothing says “get off your ass” like an empty stomach.”
But, but Mike, Nancy Pelosi begs to differ and proudly says, “We feed them”.
‘Cause that’s how she got her $25,000 refrigerator and free round trips on booze stocked military jet transports to D.C..
Pelosi is a walking monument to the saying, “You can’t take it with you.” In her 80s and possessed of a mind slowly drifting into senescence; addicted to box wine, Botox and adrenochrome; a face tightly wound with innumerable plastic surgeries; a lifetime spent attacking the normal and spitting into God’s face: The moment after her death—certainly not long from now—she will be made aware of her terrible folly. She will wail and gnash her teeth, but to no use. All her earthly gain will not serve her at all.
And for all Eternity all she will hear will be the laughter of demons.
ghostsniperJune 10, 2022, 2:21 PM
True.
She’s been an evil person all of her life and it has taken over everything about her, and she is aware of it. So she stews, in her hateful existence. Ghastly to the core.
Snakepit KansasJune 10, 2022, 12:28 PM
Mike, shut off ebt cards and you will have instant riots. Work is not a logical solution to those used to handouts.
True that. It must be immediate but not seem to be so. Send everyone on Welfare a check for one year of benefits as you announce that the handouts are done. Each side has one year to prepare. Sell popcorn when that year is done. Problem solved.
JackJune 11, 2022, 7:08 AM
Lol, I absolutely love that idea and what a fascinating shit show that would be. One final check you sons and daughters of bitches and btw, no more free phones or free college.
What a show that would be! The racial problems in the US would be solved in an instant.
KCKJune 10, 2022, 8:25 AM
That was a Christian thing to do, and it did cost her more than her $17. It also cost her some pride, because that’s what keeps me and many others from not giving of ourselves.
The homeless. How many Americans are one paycheck away from there? One marital argument, or one “hit” away?
Those things she gave away, can never be taken away from her.
I guess some 18th Century scholars know more than the early collectors of Scriptural canon, because from the very first, 2 Thess. was in. Again, with the textual criticism. Interesting to note the motives and outcomes of such, but I admit all inquiries into the Bible. It was Paul. Paul points to Jesus, but he is a one-off. So what? What are you? A few billion-off, I’d say. Suppose there’s an executive guiding your faith somehow? Strip Paul from Jesus, and you can be more gay and communist, I suppose. Do enjoy that.
My daughter and a friend made over 300 turkey sandwiches and passed them out to bums in Anchorage a few Thanksgivings ago.
Didn’t youtube it, wasn’t their last seventeen bucks, only shared the information with a few family members.
I’m not faulting Brielle Dior, just suggesting perhaps more such going on but not publicized.
BroKenJune 10, 2022, 10:12 AM
I have helped a lot of people with church funds over the years. Sometimes they say they will pay it back. I’ve never seen it happen. Sometimes they express gratitude when they get the funds. Sometimes not so much. Very few have come back and expressed gratitude in the weeks, months or years later.
But then a few years ago a guy came up to me and said he had asked for help several months back and I had told him, “No.” I didn’t remember him and was a bit sheepish, making excuses about how funds are tight. He said he was angry at first but then he thought I saw something in him and thought he could do this on his own. He thanked me for NOT HELPING HIM. He had a job, was attending another church, and things were looking up. God moves in mysterious ways.
I am actually performing his wedding this evening!
Amusing, ima spend my LAST 17.00 feeding others. Somehow I don’t find this AN act of kindness benevolent, I just see it as AN act!
We routinely feed others, don’t require a pat on the back, certainly not a digital documentary. People or organizations are full of these show boaters.
Been in the mountains building vintage motocross tracks by hand. I enjoy it. We finished yesterday.
Just in time for the others to arrive and proclaim what an awesome job THEY’ VE done! We just smile, reminded em just how bitchen they are.
We just wish we could be more like them.
ghostsniperJune 10, 2022, 2:25 PM
It was an act of virtue signaling.
Why did she find it necessary to document the whole thing on the web?
In her world it’s all about “ME”, at the expense of others.
Sometimes homelessness is situational. Bad luck does happen. Most of the time the homeless have used up, and burned through all their relatives, and all their friends before hitting the skids. They are where they are by virtue of their own bad behavior.
A few years back my bicycle gang attended the “Sock the Homeless” ride sponsored by one of the other clubs on New Year’s day near downtown Los Angeles. Everyone brought socks, gloves, hats, and the like to donate. We rolled out in a huge pack headed for Grand Park in the middle of Downtown where many of the homeless were camped out. Everyone carried as much as he could, and we handed out stuff to the street folks. And the recipients were grateful. I saw lots of smiles, and heard lots of thanks. The ride organizers knew LA well, and we were warned to stay away from Skid Row. “Too dangerous”, they said. Some of the guys didn’t listen. They got bum rushed, mobbed, and everything they brought was plundered. They were lucky to get away with their bikes.
While Miss Dior’s act is definitely charitable, I doubt it was done in the Christian spirit, but rather, the secular humanist spirit, as she specifically states that she did it to “fulfill part of her purpose,” what ever that may be, we do not know.
The comments in the thread noting Scriptural reasons for, or against, her act may be applicable to her feeding these “homeless” folks, but I think a more applicable Scripture to apply would be Matthew 6:1-4, where Jesus Christ himself says,
“Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honor by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
I feed the birds.
VanderleunJune 10, 2022, 2:45 PM
Don’t know about that. In general I believe that The Church is one and must be one. Given the attacks on Christians on all levels and areas of this world, schism verges on the satanic. The project, as you may recall, was given thus: ‘Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’
Of those in all nations I think we have Billions still to go so we can’t overlook even those with a love of Christ that does not measure up to our internal requirements from some personal vision. I’m not here for the settled and lawful Christ. I’m here for the outlaw Christ. Christ is for walking around and doing things that change people, things that let people see Christians being the Church by being, well, christian (small ‘c’)… even among the most broken.
“I’m not here for the settled and lawful Christ. I’m here for the outlaw Christ.” Damn Gerard. You summed it up perfectly. That “outlaw Christ” is the only Christ. As an outlaw He ended up on a Cross. He does not simply hang there waiting to die, but implores us, begs us, to join Him on our own crosses.
VanderleunJune 10, 2022, 7:11 PM
“To live outside the law you must be honest. I know you always say that you agree.”
Christ is for walking around and doing things that change people, things that let people see Christians being the Church by being, well, christian (small ‘c’)… even among the most broken.
Yes. So be it.
Casey KlahnJune 10, 2022, 4:38 PM
The young woman, the Samaritan, uses social media like you use a TV remote or speed dial. I mean to say she doesn’t have any qualms about it, and while it is true we must hide our good works, we also must condition our community, and church, to be a good works vehicle. It’s a very, very fine line. It is in the tone of voice, and hers is fine to my ear. Remember, I went to an evangelical bible college, and came away sick to death of the blow-hard one-upsmanship, and the hair spray. I really did exit there as a rebel.
Right, Gerard. The Feral Christ is the One whom we need very badly.
Christ does the hard time in solitary so we won’t have to.
JackJune 11, 2022, 7:19 AM
This girl is small potatoes and I wouldn’t be so quick to judge her for creating and posting a YT vid of her ministry. She’s young and I don’t think that she’s operating on some overt impulse to say “look at me” or to advertise an act of charity. People her age post their homespun vids all of the time and they cover every thought these children have ever had.
Likewise, I seriously doubt that handing out sammiches and bottled water to downtrodden peeps in her hood is going to cause a change in any of their lives, except in their bellies.
Real World Address for Donations, Mash Notes and Hate Mail
Gerard Van der Leun
1692 MANGROVE AVE
APT 379
Chico, Ca 95926
Green Pants Interior by Klahn
Who Am I? by Carl Sandburg
My head knocks against the stars.
My feet are on the hilltops.
My finger-tips are in the valleys and shores of universal life.
Down in the sounding foam of primal things I reach my hands and play with pebbles of destiny.
I have been to hell and back many times.
I know all about heaven, for I have talked with God.
I dabble in the blood and guts of the terrible.
I know the passionate seizure of beauty
And the marvelous rebellion of man at all signs reading “Keep Off.”
My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive in the universe.
Duty, Beauty, Liberty, Country, Honor, Family, Faith — Plus a few simple easy to follow rules for guys
Men saw the stars at the edge of the sea
They thought great thoughts about liberty
Poets wrote down words that did fit
Writers wrote books
Thinkers thought about it
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
Many’s the road I have walked upon
Many’s the hour between dusk and dawn
Many’s the time
Many’s the mile
I see it all now
Through the eyes of a child
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
And close your eyes
Leave it all for a while
Leave the world
And your worries behind
You will build on whatever is real
And wake up each day
To a new waking dream
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Change, change come over
Change come over
Talkin’ about a change
Change, change
Change come over, now
Change, change, change come over
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
![That Was the Whopper Weekend That Was [Illustrated]](https://americandigest.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/welcometohell-150x150.jpg "That Was the Whopper Weekend That Was [Illustrated]")
Gerard Van der Leun
Comments on this entry are closed.
Wow! I am impressed. She’s selflessly doing exactly what the Lord asks all of us to do. I hope she remains safe.
The amount of waste at stores and restaurants is appalling.
Local church pantries go through some of the stuff and it is put to good use.
Every little bit adds up.
The world needs Brielle Diors. But how many? Imagine a society comprised of nothing but men and women as she is. Would it survive? Remember Jesus Himself when He said, “…that if any would not work, neither should he eat.”—2 Thessalonians 3:10. Was Christ making a joke? Did He say, “Well, except for the homeless.”?
Brielle Dior feels good for what she has done. Good for her! But what of society in general? Is it better off? Worse off? Is a society to be governed by feelings? Are we to measure national success by the number of homeless who need constant feedings?
Compassion unhinged from reason makes the problem worse. An empty belly works wonders for those living off handouts from whatever source.
A masculine, muscular society could end homelessness in a fortnight. A society based upon compassion alone will have the homeless with them for all time. Really, cui bono?
We cannot all be as Brielle Dior. We need our Achilles as well. Do not let your heart override your reason.
“Imagine a society comprised of nothing but men and women as she is. Would it survive?”
I bet it would because she’s not compassion alone nor is she lazy. May her tribe increase!
Mike, your scripture is Paul, not Christ, but let’s not quibble. Christ did say you WILL always have poor with you so that you can be generous to them. Generosity doesn’t have to be enabling. The benefit is to the society itself when it is generous and compassionate without being enabling.
One of my favorite parables, not scripture, is the banquet table with people starving on one side because their elbows don’t bend and they can’t get the food and drink to their mouths so they sit and stare at the banquet and starve…Hell! On the other side of the table people are eating and laughing and singing and having a wonderful time. They have the same stiff elbows but on that side of the table they feed each other. Heaven! Exact same situation. The only difference is the lack of pride and the presence of compassion in people’s hearts.
Has there ever been a nation comprised of nothing but compassionate altruists? Please let me know.
“…your scripture is Paul, not Christ, but let’s not quibble.” You call questioning the authorship of the Bible “quibbling”? I have yet to meet a Christian of any denomination—and I have never heard of a Christian of any denomination—who would make such a claim. Either Paul was inspired by the Holy Ghost or he was not. Either the Bible is in its entirety God’s Word, or it is not. If the Bible is not inspired, then toss it in the rubbish heap for it is full of lies and false claims.
Cute story—and totally secular—but in Heaven we will not feed each other. God will undertake that task. He is, after all, the Bread of Life.
“Has there ever been a nation comprised of nothing but compassionate altruists? Please let me know.”
Of course not. But you said “imagine”. I took you at your word. And it just might be God’s word.
Yes, the scripture is God’s word, so let’s not quibble about the word “inspiration”.
I think you miss the point of the parable. It isn’t about who feeds who but about the elimination of pride and the increase of compassion and how that changes everything. Yes, He is the Bread of Life, and He feeds us who are totally unworthy. Personally, I think He asks us to follow His example.
It is quite possible that I missed the point of the story. I knew though that it had nothing to do with Heaven. There, Pride does not and cannot exist, and no one there needs instruction—that is what Purgatory is for: instruction, cleansing and preparation.
Very Cool. She’s is (figuratively) a Jehovah’s Witness.
Mike, 2 Thessalonians is considered one of the Deutero-Pauline Letters, written in the style of Paul and signed in Paul’s name to give it authenticity. When Christ was among his disciples, even until The Ascension, the believers thought that the End of Days would be very soon. As time went on the congregations needed to establish boundries and institutional norms. Many of the practices tightened down for what was becoming a much longer term project than even Christ had intimated. The Words of Christ himself would not have authorized a stable society.
The authorship of Thessalonians 2 is in no way settled, though you implied it is. It is a matter still hotly debated by Protestant theologians. Since I am not one of those rara aves, I will not discuss its authorship save to write that, since I am a Catholic, the author is Paul. QED.
The Catholic RSV translation:
“For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat.”
I take Christ at His word and believe what He said.
The debate over the meaning and intentions of Thessalonians 2 is as well hotly debated—and will be so until Christ returns. That at least is not open to debate.
LAST $17?
Yeah right.
I thought that, too. She is certainly not like the widow who gave all she had to live on. But she still gives a good lesson that is worth emulating. May her tribe increase.
You know, nobody is asking to put on violet glasses and pick up pom poms over this girl’s story, but on the other hand, nobody asked for sh*t on the carpet either.
A person could do some volunteer work at a Food Panty for a while. You might be surprised what a good front desperate people can put up when they suddenly lose their job and are clinging to the life they can’t make payments on. Some even do it for the sake of their kids.
If you want the wild animals to feed themselves, you should NOT allow them to build
their own zoo.
No doubt about it, this girl is doing a good thing, delivering some food and compassion at the same time. It probably comes in handy to these street peeps who are in such dire straights and I don’t care if she’s a JW, a Moonie, a Rashneesh or a Morman, her action falls in line with traits that we all usually find honorable and good.
But on the other hand Austin is right and I have always agreed. You don’t work and contribute…you don’t eat. That is Biblical too and if our government would apply that very logical principle to its administration of our professional welfare class eventually the pain of doing without might foster a wee bit of work on the part of those who spend their lives working to evade it.
As an aside, earlier in the week I heard a news broadcaster reporting that summer camps in some area were not being opened this year due to the inability of the owners to find qualified people to work, who would work.
‘Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.’
It can be more beneficial in the long run to teach a person how to do something than to do that something for them.
These people need help giving them food merely kicks that can down the road.
‘Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.’
Whenever I see that I can’t help but think of Hank in Corner Gas, “Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day. But teach a man to feed the fish and ’round and ’round we go.”
When people are in a hole and need help climbing out, a little incentive (like a fish or a kind word) can go a long way to motivate them. Often the hole is spiritual. They don’t think they are worthy (they are right since none of us are) so they need to be convinced that they can become so by God’s grace. It is amazing how God can use something like a small box of pasta to challenge the lie of hopelessness. It does not always “kick the can down the road.” It can raise it to the heavens!
We have all heard that axiom about teaching a man to fish. I would like to add “The Austin Corollary”: Give a man an AK and he will not need to learn to fish—but he will eat and protect nonetheless. What is better use to a man when SHTF: a fishing pole or an AK?
Your mileage may vary. But not mine. Remember that “an AK will get you through times of no food better than food will get you through times of no AK.”
Another “Austin Corollary”: Pacifists, the unarmed, the cowardly and the weak have no effect upon History. No one cares about them. We care about Achilles and his Myrmidons, not their maids, their butlers and their street sweepers.
One might squeal: “But what of Gandhi? Did not he teach us otherwise?” Yes he did. What happened to him?
GHANDI? He ended up taking up the Fabulous Furry Freakbrothers mantra, “Dope will get you through times without money better than money will get you through times without dope.” (Then again maybe Ghandi and the Freakbros lived in a high-trust society.)
Gandhi was one of the weirdest weirdoes in all of History. That 1982 Richard Attenborough movie about him was all fantasy and fabulist nonsense. The real Gandhi was obsessed with his morning bowel movements and enjoyed as an 70 year old man sleeping naked with his granddaughters.
Gandhi was in every sense a proto-member of that post-colonial clown world of Mobuto, Kuanda, Kenyatta, Nehru and other such semi-literate flotsam. That Muslim guy who shot him did the world a favor.
And I did steal that quote from the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers. Bless ’em all! I miss them and the times they represented.
Yes. There was a great expose on Ghandi back about 20 plus year ago. I’ll see if I can find it.
FOUND IT.
THE GHANDI NOBODY KNOWS
GANDHI rose early, usually at three-thirty, and before his first bowel movement
(during which he received visitors, although possibly not Margaret Bourke-White)
he spent two hours in meditation, listening to his “inner voice.” Now Gandhi was
an extremely vocal individual, and in addition to spending an hour each day in
vigorous walking, another hour spinning at his primitive spinning wheel, another
hour at further prayers, another hour being massaged nude by teenage girls, and
many hours deciding such things as affairs of state, he produced a quite
unconscionable number of articles and speeches and wrote an average of sixty
letters a day. All considered, it is not really surprising that his inner voice
said different things to him at different times. Despising consistency and never
checking his earlier statements, and yet inhumanly obstinate about his position
at any given moment, Gandhi is thought by some Indians today (according to V.S.
Naipaul) to have been so erratic and unpredictable that he may have delayed
Indian independence for twenty-five years.
For Gandhi was an extremely difficult man to work with. He had no partners, only
disciples. For members of his ashrams, he dictated every minute of their days,
and not only every morsel of food they should eat but when they should eat it.
Without ever having heard of a protein or a vitamin, he considered himself an
expert on diet, as on most things, and was constantly experimenting.
I have read a great deal of Grenier. “The Marrakesh One-Two” is a classic. He died too soon. But maybe we all do.
I talked to a Walmart manager in one of the best suburban stores, last night. I was shocked to see his back room aisles jammed with pallets of merchandise. Not enough help to get it on the floor. He was working back in sporting goods, stacking pricey ice chests. He has more important stuff to do. But there is no one to stack the ice chests.
This recession is going to be really interesting.
Eliminate government handouts and Wal-Mart would have 1000 job applicants the next day. Nothing says “get off your ass” like an empty stomach.
“Nothing says “get off your ass” like an empty stomach.”
But, but Mike, Nancy Pelosi begs to differ and proudly says, “We feed them”.
‘Cause that’s how she got her $25,000 refrigerator and free round trips on booze stocked military jet transports to D.C..
Pelosi is a walking monument to the saying, “You can’t take it with you.” In her 80s and possessed of a mind slowly drifting into senescence; addicted to box wine, Botox and adrenochrome; a face tightly wound with innumerable plastic surgeries; a lifetime spent attacking the normal and spitting into God’s face: The moment after her death—certainly not long from now—she will be made aware of her terrible folly. She will wail and gnash her teeth, but to no use. All her earthly gain will not serve her at all.
And for all Eternity all she will hear will be the laughter of demons.
True.
She’s been an evil person all of her life and it has taken over everything about her, and she is aware of it. So she stews, in her hateful existence. Ghastly to the core.
Mike, shut off ebt cards and you will have instant riots. Work is not a logical solution to those used to handouts.
True that. It must be immediate but not seem to be so. Send everyone on Welfare a check for one year of benefits as you announce that the handouts are done. Each side has one year to prepare. Sell popcorn when that year is done. Problem solved.
Lol, I absolutely love that idea and what a fascinating shit show that would be. One final check you sons and daughters of bitches and btw, no more free phones or free college.
What a show that would be! The racial problems in the US would be solved in an instant.
That was a Christian thing to do, and it did cost her more than her $17. It also cost her some pride, because that’s what keeps me and many others from not giving of ourselves.
The homeless. How many Americans are one paycheck away from there? One marital argument, or one “hit” away?
Those things she gave away, can never be taken away from her.
I guess some 18th Century scholars know more than the early collectors of Scriptural canon, because from the very first, 2 Thess. was in. Again, with the textual criticism. Interesting to note the motives and outcomes of such, but I admit all inquiries into the Bible. It was Paul. Paul points to Jesus, but he is a one-off. So what? What are you? A few billion-off, I’d say. Suppose there’s an executive guiding your faith somehow? Strip Paul from Jesus, and you can be more gay and communist, I suppose. Do enjoy that.
My daughter and a friend made over 300 turkey sandwiches and passed them out to bums in Anchorage a few Thanksgivings ago.
Didn’t youtube it, wasn’t their last seventeen bucks, only shared the information with a few family members.
I’m not faulting Brielle Dior, just suggesting perhaps more such going on but not publicized.
I have helped a lot of people with church funds over the years. Sometimes they say they will pay it back. I’ve never seen it happen. Sometimes they express gratitude when they get the funds. Sometimes not so much. Very few have come back and expressed gratitude in the weeks, months or years later.
But then a few years ago a guy came up to me and said he had asked for help several months back and I had told him, “No.” I didn’t remember him and was a bit sheepish, making excuses about how funds are tight. He said he was angry at first but then he thought I saw something in him and thought he could do this on his own. He thanked me for NOT HELPING HIM. He had a job, was attending another church, and things were looking up. God moves in mysterious ways.
I am actually performing his wedding this evening!
Amusing, ima spend my LAST 17.00 feeding others. Somehow I don’t find this AN act of kindness benevolent, I just see it as AN act!
We routinely feed others, don’t require a pat on the back, certainly not a digital documentary. People or organizations are full of these show boaters.
Been in the mountains building vintage motocross tracks by hand. I enjoy it. We finished yesterday.
Just in time for the others to arrive and proclaim what an awesome job THEY’ VE done! We just smile, reminded em just how bitchen they are.
We just wish we could be more like them.
It was an act of virtue signaling.
Why did she find it necessary to document the whole thing on the web?
In her world it’s all about “ME”, at the expense of others.
Sometimes homelessness is situational. Bad luck does happen. Most of the time the homeless have used up, and burned through all their relatives, and all their friends before hitting the skids. They are where they are by virtue of their own bad behavior.
A few years back my bicycle gang attended the “Sock the Homeless” ride sponsored by one of the other clubs on New Year’s day near downtown Los Angeles. Everyone brought socks, gloves, hats, and the like to donate. We rolled out in a huge pack headed for Grand Park in the middle of Downtown where many of the homeless were camped out. Everyone carried as much as he could, and we handed out stuff to the street folks. And the recipients were grateful. I saw lots of smiles, and heard lots of thanks. The ride organizers knew LA well, and we were warned to stay away from Skid Row. “Too dangerous”, they said. Some of the guys didn’t listen. They got bum rushed, mobbed, and everything they brought was plundered. They were lucky to get away with their bikes.
JWM
While Miss Dior’s act is definitely charitable, I doubt it was done in the Christian spirit, but rather, the secular humanist spirit, as she specifically states that she did it to “fulfill part of her purpose,” what ever that may be, we do not know.
The comments in the thread noting Scriptural reasons for, or against, her act may be applicable to her feeding these “homeless” folks, but I think a more applicable Scripture to apply would be Matthew 6:1-4, where Jesus Christ himself says,
“Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honor by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
I feed the birds.
Don’t know about that. In general I believe that The Church is one and must be one. Given the attacks on Christians on all levels and areas of this world, schism verges on the satanic. The project, as you may recall, was given thus: ‘Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’
Of those in all nations I think we have Billions still to go so we can’t overlook even those with a love of Christ that does not measure up to our internal requirements from some personal vision. I’m not here for the settled and lawful Christ. I’m here for the outlaw Christ. Christ is for walking around and doing things that change people, things that let people see Christians being the Church by being, well, christian (small ‘c’)… even among the most broken.
“I’m not here for the settled and lawful Christ. I’m here for the outlaw Christ.” Damn Gerard. You summed it up perfectly. That “outlaw Christ” is the only Christ. As an outlaw He ended up on a Cross. He does not simply hang there waiting to die, but implores us, begs us, to join Him on our own crosses.
“To live outside the law you must be honest. I know you always say that you agree.”
Christ is for walking around and doing things that change people, things that let people see Christians being the Church by being, well, christian (small ‘c’)… even among the most broken.
Yes. So be it.
The young woman, the Samaritan, uses social media like you use a TV remote or speed dial. I mean to say she doesn’t have any qualms about it, and while it is true we must hide our good works, we also must condition our community, and church, to be a good works vehicle. It’s a very, very fine line. It is in the tone of voice, and hers is fine to my ear. Remember, I went to an evangelical bible college, and came away sick to death of the blow-hard one-upsmanship, and the hair spray. I really did exit there as a rebel.
Right, Gerard. The Feral Christ is the One whom we need very badly.
Feral Christ. Outlaw Christ.
Exactly.
Christ does the hard time in solitary so we won’t have to.
This girl is small potatoes and I wouldn’t be so quick to judge her for creating and posting a YT vid of her ministry. She’s young and I don’t think that she’s operating on some overt impulse to say “look at me” or to advertise an act of charity. People her age post their homespun vids all of the time and they cover every thought these children have ever had.
Likewise, I seriously doubt that handing out sammiches and bottled water to downtrodden peeps in her hood is going to cause a change in any of their lives, except in their bellies.