WEBVTT 00:00:03.289 --> 00:00:05.730 Hello, everyone, and welcome to this week's episode 00:00:05.730 --> 00:00:09.130 of Trinity Talks. My name is Kyla. I'm Melissa. 00:00:09.410 --> 00:00:14.650 And I'm Ben. And we are here to wrap up our podcast, 00:00:14.789 --> 00:00:17.190 our whole teaching series actually called Growing 00:00:17.190 --> 00:00:19.410 Season, where we are going back to the farm to 00:00:19.410 --> 00:00:21.929 learn what the farm has to teach us about faith. 00:00:22.589 --> 00:00:26.469 And so in last week's sermon, Mike Messenger 00:00:26.469 --> 00:00:29.710 actually preached because Rob was away. And he 00:00:29.710 --> 00:00:34.170 talked about these kind of obscure laws in the 00:00:34.170 --> 00:00:37.409 book of Deuteronomy, all about gleaning. which 00:00:37.409 --> 00:00:40.750 is this practice of harvesting, but then leaving 00:00:40.750 --> 00:00:43.929 some of the crops in the field, leaving the edges 00:00:43.929 --> 00:00:45.929 of the field or like, you know, when you sort 00:00:45.929 --> 00:00:47.850 of go over the trees, don't go over them again 00:00:47.850 --> 00:00:50.229 to get the extra grapes or apples or whatever 00:00:50.229 --> 00:00:54.609 so that we leave them for other people, for the 00:00:54.609 --> 00:00:56.789 poor, for the foreigner, for the widows, for 00:00:56.789 --> 00:01:00.609 anybody who just needs extra food. And this sounds 00:01:00.609 --> 00:01:05.450 cool. I think it sounds like a great idea. It 00:01:05.450 --> 00:01:10.069 also sounds like really cool for farmer people 00:01:10.069 --> 00:01:12.989 who like can practically do this. I think it's 00:01:12.989 --> 00:01:14.909 like then then the question becomes, OK, so like 00:01:14.909 --> 00:01:18.049 how do we do that in life? Like, does that even 00:01:18.049 --> 00:01:22.569 matter for us today? Yeah. So just. As you think 00:01:22.569 --> 00:01:25.290 about that and as you think about the sermon, 00:01:25.349 --> 00:01:27.310 is there any particular parts that sort of stand 00:01:27.310 --> 00:01:29.469 out to you? I think one of the parts that stood 00:01:29.469 --> 00:01:32.209 out to me a lot is how intentional God is and 00:01:32.209 --> 00:01:34.969 making us more intentional about giving and caring 00:01:34.969 --> 00:01:37.810 to others. Okay. So usually something you get 00:01:37.810 --> 00:01:39.489 to see of like, oh, yeah, love your neighbors. 00:01:39.650 --> 00:01:41.890 Yeah. It's interesting to see him give consistently 00:01:41.890 --> 00:01:44.150 practical advice of, hey, make sure to leave 00:01:44.150 --> 00:01:47.590 X amount of food from the harvest away for others. 00:01:47.790 --> 00:01:50.030 If you drop something, you don't have to pick 00:01:50.030 --> 00:01:52.310 it up. Someone else can. mind that they can have 00:01:52.310 --> 00:01:54.969 that yeah so it's interesting practice to leave 00:01:54.969 --> 00:01:57.019 extra and make sure you're constantly thinking 00:01:57.019 --> 00:01:59.120 of others, even if they're not there with you. 00:01:59.159 --> 00:02:01.700 Right. Yeah. Yeah. So, and, and therefore the 00:02:01.700 --> 00:02:03.579 piece that's like, okay, not just, Hey, love 00:02:03.579 --> 00:02:05.579 your neighbors, but like, here's how you do that. 00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:08.659 Yeah. Constant examples. It's great. Yeah. Yeah. 00:02:08.819 --> 00:02:10.900 Yeah. Yeah. What about for you? I mean, I agree 00:02:10.900 --> 00:02:13.240 completely with Ben. It really is so cool how 00:02:13.240 --> 00:02:17.000 God is so intentional. And I love that. Um, uh, 00:02:17.120 --> 00:02:20.219 Mike, he talked about, uh, Ruth and Boaz and 00:02:20.219 --> 00:02:24.120 how like. From this law and from following this 00:02:24.120 --> 00:02:26.759 practice, it led to such amazing things. So sometimes 00:02:26.759 --> 00:02:28.800 like we might be in a period in our life where 00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:30.699 sometimes gleaning is a little bit easier to 00:02:30.699 --> 00:02:32.879 do. And sometimes it's a little bit harder to 00:02:32.879 --> 00:02:34.919 do. But at the end of the day, it's like if we 00:02:34.919 --> 00:02:37.759 still obey God and we do it, we never know where 00:02:37.759 --> 00:02:40.680 he's going to take that. And I think it's just 00:02:40.680 --> 00:02:44.300 like. I love that it's just such a compassionate 00:02:44.300 --> 00:02:47.620 and intentional. You have to mindfully say like, 00:02:47.699 --> 00:02:49.740 oh, I'm not going to go and pick that up because 00:02:49.740 --> 00:02:51.740 someone else might need it. It's like a practice 00:02:51.740 --> 00:02:54.539 you have to get into. Absolutely. He's the God 00:02:54.539 --> 00:02:57.879 of love for a reason. Yeah. Yeah. And I think, 00:02:57.900 --> 00:03:00.560 yeah, sort of similarly, like I think one of 00:03:00.560 --> 00:03:03.759 the points that really stood out in. in the sermon 00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:05.819 and that is sort of related to all of this is, 00:03:05.860 --> 00:03:09.419 yeah, just the idea that it is a really intentional 00:03:09.419 --> 00:03:14.460 choice. Yeah. Right. And that it is a choice 00:03:14.460 --> 00:03:18.219 that's like really sort of counterintuitive to 00:03:18.219 --> 00:03:20.340 our world and our culture right now. Right. Like, 00:03:20.340 --> 00:03:22.659 so Mike started out the sermon by talking about, 00:03:22.699 --> 00:03:25.580 you know, like agribusiness. Right. And how it's 00:03:25.580 --> 00:03:28.120 always efficiency, efficiency, like don't waste 00:03:28.120 --> 00:03:31.800 anything. Exactly. And I guess to think of. the 00:03:31.800 --> 00:03:36.219 leaving behind as like waste as opposed to thinking 00:03:36.219 --> 00:03:39.759 about it as, you know, a way of making space 00:03:39.759 --> 00:03:42.759 for other people. And I think that that is a 00:03:42.759 --> 00:03:45.039 little bit different, like in our culture today. 00:03:45.080 --> 00:03:46.919 Like I think if a farmer today would just like 00:03:46.919 --> 00:03:49.020 left part of their field there, people would 00:03:49.020 --> 00:03:52.520 be like, why? And other people probably wouldn't 00:03:52.520 --> 00:03:55.979 feel free to go and glean from that. Right. Yeah. 00:03:56.479 --> 00:03:59.819 But are there other ways in farming or in life? 00:04:00.460 --> 00:04:02.900 that we can like make space for other people. 00:04:03.550 --> 00:04:06.810 And yeah, just like like leave behind or like 00:04:06.810 --> 00:04:09.889 give away like whatever it is. Right. I think 00:04:09.889 --> 00:04:11.469 it's really funny because if you imagine like 00:04:11.469 --> 00:04:13.689 gleaning with what we have today instead of maybe 00:04:13.689 --> 00:04:16.209 with fruits or with grains. Yeah. With money. 00:04:16.250 --> 00:04:18.769 If you just start like throwing $20 bills onto 00:04:18.769 --> 00:04:20.829 the street, people also would question. That's 00:04:20.829 --> 00:04:22.870 just now you're living. We don't know where it 00:04:22.870 --> 00:04:25.250 goes. Yeah. But instead of just doing that, if 00:04:25.250 --> 00:04:27.110 you can be intentional about where your money 00:04:27.110 --> 00:04:29.569 goes at the start of every month or wherever 00:04:29.569 --> 00:04:31.649 you get your paycheck, setting a set of money 00:04:31.649 --> 00:04:34.920 aside. Sure. for giving is a really, really handy 00:04:34.920 --> 00:04:37.060 spot, whether it's giving directly to a church, 00:04:37.079 --> 00:04:38.959 whether all of that goes to a church or all that 00:04:38.959 --> 00:04:40.959 goes to a charity or some that goes here and 00:04:40.959 --> 00:04:43.990 some that goes there. Right. I think it's. Partially 00:04:43.990 --> 00:04:46.709 just to be intentional about how do I garnish 00:04:46.709 --> 00:04:50.009 my resources, my time, my money? What do I have 00:04:50.009 --> 00:04:52.649 to offer? Yeah. So by setting up a plan intentionally 00:04:52.649 --> 00:04:54.990 and saying, hey, I want to give this amount away. 00:04:55.069 --> 00:04:57.810 I want to leave some for others is probably one 00:04:57.810 --> 00:04:59.750 of the easier ways to try and get into doing 00:04:59.750 --> 00:05:01.750 it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. For sure. For sure. Absolutely, 00:05:01.769 --> 00:05:04.509 yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm going to read for us 00:05:04.509 --> 00:05:07.529 the passage from Deuteronomy. So folks have a 00:05:07.529 --> 00:05:09.290 little bit of context for what we're talking 00:05:09.290 --> 00:05:12.189 about here. So Deuteronomy chapter 24, starting 00:05:12.189 --> 00:05:15.269 at verse 9. So when you are harvesting in your 00:05:15.269 --> 00:05:17.689 field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back 00:05:17.689 --> 00:05:20.209 and get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless 00:05:20.209 --> 00:05:22.250 and the widow, so that the Lord your God may 00:05:22.250 --> 00:05:24.810 bless the work of your hands. And when you beat 00:05:24.810 --> 00:05:27.290 your olives from the trees, do not go over the 00:05:27.290 --> 00:05:29.689 branches a second time. Leave it for the foreigner, 00:05:29.850 --> 00:05:32.209 the fatherless and the widow. And when you harvest 00:05:32.209 --> 00:05:34.610 grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines 00:05:34.610 --> 00:05:36.689 again. Leave what remains for the foreigner, 00:05:36.810 --> 00:05:39.189 the fatherless, and the widow. Remember that 00:05:39.189 --> 00:05:41.670 you were slaves in Egypt, and that is why I command 00:05:41.670 --> 00:05:45.790 you to do this. So just as I read that passage 00:05:45.790 --> 00:05:49.149 of scripture, yeah, is there anything that stands 00:05:49.149 --> 00:05:53.980 out to you? It definitely like when it mentions 00:05:53.980 --> 00:05:56.779 like how the Israelites, they were slaves in 00:05:56.779 --> 00:05:59.519 Egypt. So sometimes it, I guess it's human nature 00:05:59.519 --> 00:06:01.920 to be like, well, why am I going to leave something 00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:04.420 behind for someone else? Right. Or even in life 00:06:04.420 --> 00:06:06.779 where like, well, why do I have to do this for 00:06:06.779 --> 00:06:10.060 someone else? Why do I have to go the extra mile 00:06:10.060 --> 00:06:13.120 or be very intentional? And it's just that reminder 00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:17.379 of like, we've. all been in places where we had 00:06:17.379 --> 00:06:20.100 to rely on someone else or if we haven't been 00:06:20.100 --> 00:06:24.120 in those places yet I feel like eventually it's 00:06:24.120 --> 00:06:27.199 coming it's coming exactly and I do feel like 00:06:27.199 --> 00:06:29.120 God makes that very intentional where he's just 00:06:29.120 --> 00:06:31.759 like you know it's time to learn it's time to 00:06:31.759 --> 00:06:34.939 do some character development so just for the 00:06:34.939 --> 00:06:36.980 Israelites and even for us just remembering the 00:06:36.980 --> 00:06:40.180 times where we kind of needed someone else's 00:06:40.180 --> 00:06:44.360 compassion and love and time um and then once 00:06:44.360 --> 00:06:46.899 we're kind of in a place where hey we feel kind 00:06:46.899 --> 00:06:49.740 of a little bit better a little bit good that's 00:06:49.740 --> 00:06:51.480 also something that we can give back to right 00:06:51.480 --> 00:06:54.139 i think it's really important to kind of keep 00:06:54.139 --> 00:06:55.980 that cycle going because there's always going 00:06:55.980 --> 00:06:58.420 to be people who are going to need people um 00:06:58.420 --> 00:07:02.699 and just remain it's like a it's like reminding 00:07:02.699 --> 00:07:05.699 us to remain humble sure yeah sure and like a 00:07:05.699 --> 00:07:08.220 really intentional sort of commentary on what 00:07:08.220 --> 00:07:11.100 it means to be human yeah that being human is 00:07:11.100 --> 00:07:13.660 being people who have needs and people who are 00:07:13.660 --> 00:07:17.480 dependent on other people right um and that's 00:07:17.480 --> 00:07:19.439 not like sometimes we think of being dependent 00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:21.959 on other people as like problematic or like you 00:07:21.959 --> 00:07:24.639 know like whatever but like that's not it's not 00:07:24.639 --> 00:07:30.740 inherently problematic right it just for like 00:07:30.740 --> 00:07:34.079 yeah like part of the reason maybe not the only 00:07:34.079 --> 00:07:36.639 reason but part of the reason that god asks me 00:07:36.639 --> 00:07:39.579 to be generous to love my neighbor is because 00:07:39.579 --> 00:07:43.579 god loves me exactly and it's because other people 00:07:43.579 --> 00:07:46.279 love me yeah right like and it just like feeds 00:07:46.279 --> 00:07:50.519 that cycle right and so remembering okay i'm 00:07:50.519 --> 00:07:55.160 not I'm just giving what I have because God told 00:07:55.160 --> 00:07:58.500 me to. I'm giving what I have because I have 00:07:58.500 --> 00:08:00.379 been blessed. I have been given much. And so 00:08:00.379 --> 00:08:04.339 I can give much away. Right. It talks about like 00:08:04.339 --> 00:08:07.420 giving is better than receiving and loving each 00:08:07.420 --> 00:08:09.500 other and caring for one another. Doesn't always 00:08:09.500 --> 00:08:11.500 mean that we have to be a burden on the other. 00:08:11.560 --> 00:08:14.800 Sure. Giving is a real treat. Yeah. And even 00:08:14.800 --> 00:08:16.819 for just dealing with people, even if you in 00:08:16.819 --> 00:08:18.860 a spot where you have all that you need, like 00:08:18.860 --> 00:08:21.449 you're very wealthy, but like, physically and 00:08:21.449 --> 00:08:24.529 financially but having people to have that wealth 00:08:24.529 --> 00:08:27.810 for being able to like go through life with others 00:08:27.810 --> 00:08:29.990 whether it's just to feed them or whether it's 00:08:29.990 --> 00:08:32.370 to go through with camaraderie those are really 00:08:32.370 --> 00:08:34.350 important facts it's what makes it meaningful 00:08:34.350 --> 00:08:39.700 yeah yeah for sure i feel like um i feel like 00:08:39.700 --> 00:08:42.539 society has been and it is growing increasingly 00:08:42.539 --> 00:08:45.279 more like individualistic right just that idea 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:47.179 of like i have to protect me i have to protect 00:08:47.179 --> 00:08:50.659 what's mine kind of idea um so i understand why 00:08:50.659 --> 00:08:53.799 the idea of gleaning in any way might not be 00:08:53.799 --> 00:08:58.460 super popular in our society right now however 00:08:58.460 --> 00:09:02.240 i i think that can be really scary right and 00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:05.259 i don't think that's necessarily a healthy sign 00:09:05.259 --> 00:09:09.360 i think we do need to think of other people and 00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:11.940 we kind of need to move a little bit away from 00:09:11.940 --> 00:09:14.159 that individualistic mindset which i think this 00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:16.779 verse is encouraging us to kind of be like if 00:09:16.779 --> 00:09:18.899 you were on your own when you were at your lowest 00:09:18.899 --> 00:09:21.200 yeah do you think you would still be you would 00:09:21.200 --> 00:09:24.059 be here right now and it's like probably not 00:09:24.059 --> 00:09:27.840 right so it's like don't think now that you can 00:09:27.840 --> 00:09:29.740 do everything on your own or that you have to 00:09:29.740 --> 00:09:32.159 do everything on your own when at one point in 00:09:32.159 --> 00:09:36.120 time you couldn't Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I 00:09:36.120 --> 00:09:38.919 think one of the other points that Mike brought 00:09:38.919 --> 00:09:40.899 up in the sermon that sort of stands out to me 00:09:40.899 --> 00:09:46.980 is that this is an act of, of charity, of giving 00:09:46.980 --> 00:09:51.419 away, but it's not just giving away. Yeah. Right. 00:09:51.519 --> 00:09:54.700 It's leave these things in your field for the 00:09:54.700 --> 00:09:56.639 foreigner, the fatherless and the widow so that 00:09:56.639 --> 00:09:59.600 they can come and gather those things themselves. 00:09:59.779 --> 00:10:02.440 Yeah. Right. And so there's a sense of like, 00:10:03.329 --> 00:10:06.970 dignity of labor in that, right? That it's not 00:10:06.970 --> 00:10:09.629 just, ah, here's a thing. It's not just handouts. 00:10:09.789 --> 00:10:11.809 Yeah, and it's not just handouts. And I think 00:10:11.809 --> 00:10:14.149 that there is, you know, sometimes when people 00:10:14.149 --> 00:10:16.759 think about like charity or giving to the poor 00:10:16.759 --> 00:10:19.159 or whatever, they're like, you know, handouts 00:10:19.159 --> 00:10:20.759 are just no good. I think there is a time and 00:10:20.759 --> 00:10:23.440 a place for people to just get a thing that they 00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:26.860 need. Disaster relief? Just give it. Yeah, yeah. 00:10:27.080 --> 00:10:29.320 You need to work for that. Yeah, yeah. But I 00:10:29.320 --> 00:10:31.679 think that there are other times and places and 00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:34.220 spaces in which, yeah, we are actually called 00:10:34.220 --> 00:10:37.200 to invite people to be part of what is happening. 00:10:37.600 --> 00:10:40.120 Absolutely. Yeah, and yeah, I just think that 00:10:40.120 --> 00:10:42.500 that's really interesting here. I think that 00:10:42.500 --> 00:10:44.539 is really cool because at the core of that, too 00:10:44.539 --> 00:10:47.000 is like not excluding people right you're including 00:10:47.000 --> 00:10:49.580 people in more than just you know making sure 00:10:49.580 --> 00:10:51.299 that they have the needs they have you're including 00:10:51.299 --> 00:10:56.000 them into like a practice a community and I think 00:10:56.000 --> 00:11:00.659 that's also really important too so I think maybe 00:11:00.659 --> 00:11:02.279 that's a different perspective on gleaning as 00:11:02.279 --> 00:11:05.779 well where we can give money we can give time 00:11:05.779 --> 00:11:09.240 but even just like inviting people into the things 00:11:09.240 --> 00:11:13.779 that we're doing you know maybe another way as 00:11:13.779 --> 00:11:16.019 well sure and i think it makes it a little more 00:11:16.019 --> 00:11:19.659 relational too right like when i think about 00:11:19.659 --> 00:11:22.440 okay like in the example of food i could be like 00:11:22.440 --> 00:11:24.480 okay i'll give some food to a food bank and they'll 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:27.100 like distribute that and that's good do that 00:11:27.100 --> 00:11:30.519 i could also invite someone into my house and 00:11:30.519 --> 00:11:33.559 have dinner with them or i could go to like a 00:11:33.559 --> 00:11:35.639 community kitchen and cook a meal with someone 00:11:35.639 --> 00:11:38.419 else right like just all of these ways of inviting 00:11:38.419 --> 00:11:43.919 people into the process it helps. Break down 00:11:43.919 --> 00:11:47.200 those like barriers. Yeah. One of the things 00:11:47.200 --> 00:11:49.299 that I really like as well about this form of 00:11:49.299 --> 00:11:52.100 gleaning is I just did a big project for my school 00:11:52.100 --> 00:11:55.240 on a store called Good Store. It's run by Hank 00:11:55.240 --> 00:11:56.759 and John Green. But one of the things that they 00:11:56.759 --> 00:11:59.220 do is they take all profits and donate them directly 00:11:59.220 --> 00:12:01.600 to charity. Okay. But instead of it just being 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:03.980 give like handouts, if we give things to people, 00:12:04.019 --> 00:12:05.879 it can be really, really good. Yeah. We also 00:12:05.879 --> 00:12:08.000 don't want to just slap a bandaid on a bigger 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:10.139 problem. Sure. So one of the things that they 00:12:10.139 --> 00:12:12.059 did is they partnered with Partners in Health. 00:12:12.399 --> 00:12:15.320 few other organizations to build a hospital or 00:12:15.320 --> 00:12:17.919 maternal center of excellence in Sierra Leone. 00:12:17.940 --> 00:12:20.500 Okay. So now instead of just here's some stuff, 00:12:20.519 --> 00:12:23.679 no, here's a hospital and a training center to 00:12:23.679 --> 00:12:26.059 encourage them to develop. Hey, here are the 00:12:26.059 --> 00:12:28.460 resources you have. Now you get to have more 00:12:28.460 --> 00:12:31.360 jobs, more expertise, more knowledge. Now it's 00:12:31.360 --> 00:12:33.700 your time to shine. Yeah. Yeah. I love that. 00:12:33.740 --> 00:12:36.539 That's incredible. It's awesome. Wow. yeah yeah 00:12:36.539 --> 00:12:38.600 so just yeah thinking about how do we include 00:12:38.600 --> 00:12:41.580 people in the acts of generosity i think is super 00:12:41.580 --> 00:12:44.980 important it is one thing i also love about the 00:12:44.980 --> 00:12:47.159 passage that stood out to me was when we're like 00:12:47.159 --> 00:12:49.840 whacking the trees to get all the all the fruits 00:12:49.840 --> 00:12:52.019 out yeah one of the fun things is you don't go 00:12:52.019 --> 00:12:55.259 over it twice you just do it the once yeah partially 00:12:55.259 --> 00:12:57.639 to help you i think partially for burnout and 00:12:57.639 --> 00:12:59.799 make sure you don't overwork yourself you have 00:12:59.799 --> 00:13:02.399 more of yourself to give to others yeah but then 00:13:02.799 --> 00:13:04.519 it also does invite more people to keep coming 00:13:04.519 --> 00:13:07.399 back to, Hey, let's do this together. Yeah. Yeah. 00:13:07.460 --> 00:13:09.820 Yeah. For sure. For sure. Yeah. I love that. 00:13:09.820 --> 00:13:11.860 I mean, Ruth and Boaz, right? The whole, that's 00:13:11.860 --> 00:13:14.950 how it kind of started. So I think it's. That's 00:13:14.950 --> 00:13:16.809 a really good point. And yeah, like imagine having 00:13:16.809 --> 00:13:18.389 to go back to the tree because you're like, I 00:13:18.389 --> 00:13:22.330 left another one there. Oh, my God. It's like 00:13:22.330 --> 00:13:26.149 right now I like grew some tomatoes this year. 00:13:26.169 --> 00:13:28.590 And right now that some of the tomatoes are ripening, 00:13:28.590 --> 00:13:31.149 but it seems like every day that I go back, there 00:13:31.149 --> 00:13:33.570 are more red tomatoes that were green the day 00:13:33.570 --> 00:13:36.169 before. Right. But like, yeah. What would it 00:13:36.169 --> 00:13:37.789 look like to be like, OK, I'm going to wait to 00:13:37.789 --> 00:13:39.970 the peak and then at the peak, I'll harvest all 00:13:39.970 --> 00:13:43.039 of the red tomatoes. And then. leave the rest 00:13:43.039 --> 00:13:44.960 i mean right now i wouldn't leave the rest because 00:13:44.960 --> 00:13:46.399 the squirrels would eat them all and that would 00:13:46.399 --> 00:13:49.539 be sad yeah hey the squirrels will love it yes 00:13:49.539 --> 00:13:53.039 but um but actually yeah so in this community 00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:56.879 garden that i'm part of um every thursday there 00:13:56.879 --> 00:13:58.779 is like a food charity that will come and like 00:13:58.779 --> 00:14:01.179 pick up extra vegetables and things like that 00:14:01.179 --> 00:14:03.759 right so yeah yeah so like yeah being able to 00:14:03.759 --> 00:14:05.700 say okay i will take the tomatoes that i need 00:14:05.700 --> 00:14:08.700 this week and then i can give away the rest right 00:14:08.700 --> 00:14:11.320 yeah there's another thing to be said for understanding 00:14:11.320 --> 00:14:13.960 how much do i actually need yeah and then being 00:14:13.960 --> 00:14:16.440 able to say okay the rest is totally okay to 00:14:16.440 --> 00:14:19.159 be given away yeah for sure and actually it's 00:14:19.159 --> 00:14:21.000 a really because i mean ben you're doing your 00:14:21.000 --> 00:14:23.340 master's in like sustainable i don't like business 00:14:23.340 --> 00:14:26.669 psychology A master's of business with an emphasis 00:14:26.669 --> 00:14:30.090 in sustainability. Oh, okay. VA was psyched. 00:14:30.809 --> 00:14:34.669 Super cool. All of like everything that you're 00:14:34.669 --> 00:14:37.230 learning and have learned. But even just like 00:14:37.230 --> 00:14:39.190 that question about like overconsumption, right? 00:14:39.250 --> 00:14:42.190 It's like how that can be really unhealthy and 00:14:42.190 --> 00:14:45.009 harmful socially and things like that. And just, 00:14:45.029 --> 00:14:48.730 is it sustainable? And I feel like, I mean, I 00:14:48.730 --> 00:14:51.470 don't think overconsumption is sustainable. You 00:14:51.470 --> 00:14:56.019 know what I mean? The fun things that we're learning, 00:14:56.059 --> 00:14:57.960 but especially that's bringing people together 00:14:57.960 --> 00:15:01.279 is especially things like global warming. It's 00:15:01.279 --> 00:15:03.360 getting really hard to tackle these things. A 00:15:03.360 --> 00:15:05.679 lot of times the message is us as individuals 00:15:05.679 --> 00:15:08.679 just need to be better. Right. Just like don't 00:15:08.679 --> 00:15:11.039 consume as much. Don't buy as much. Walk whenever 00:15:11.039 --> 00:15:13.370 you can. Don't drive as much. What we've been 00:15:13.370 --> 00:15:15.509 looking at the data is that's not really enough 00:15:15.509 --> 00:15:17.529 anymore to solve some of these issues. We're 00:15:17.529 --> 00:15:20.710 past that. What we need is to get people to join 00:15:20.710 --> 00:15:22.669 together for more collaborative efforts to bring 00:15:22.669 --> 00:15:24.850 down total overconsumption and overproduction. 00:15:25.070 --> 00:15:27.570 Right. We need like whole systems change. We 00:15:27.570 --> 00:15:29.990 need systems transformation. That's a big thing. 00:15:30.129 --> 00:15:33.309 Yeah. Absolutely. Individuals, we can be great. 00:15:33.429 --> 00:15:35.750 Yeah. Get more people in. That's the way we make 00:15:35.750 --> 00:15:40.039 the most change. That's cool. Yeah. So then as 00:15:40.039 --> 00:15:45.259 you think about these like gleaning laws and 00:15:45.259 --> 00:15:48.200 sort of practices that God advocates for, like, 00:15:48.220 --> 00:15:52.220 what does that look like today? Especially, I 00:15:52.220 --> 00:15:54.580 think, for those of us who aren't farmers out 00:15:54.580 --> 00:15:57.059 there beating the trees and harvesting the wheat. 00:15:58.220 --> 00:16:01.299 Right. Yeah. How do we put this into practice? 00:16:02.059 --> 00:16:05.019 I think one of the ways we do is, like, classically, 00:16:05.039 --> 00:16:08.059 generosity and giving. One of the things I like, 00:16:08.059 --> 00:16:09.659 even just going back to my project with Good 00:16:09.659 --> 00:16:12.080 Store, is outside of just supporting a hospital, 00:16:12.259 --> 00:16:13.700 one of the things that they're doing is they're 00:16:13.700 --> 00:16:15.220 putting a lot of the profits as well, now that 00:16:15.220 --> 00:16:17.559 the hospital's almost done, is putting it towards 00:16:17.559 --> 00:16:20.259 tuberculosis treatment and long -term care. Sure. 00:16:20.399 --> 00:16:22.399 Because one of the ways for that one specifically 00:16:22.399 --> 00:16:25.460 is it's an injustice in economy. We have the 00:16:25.460 --> 00:16:28.500 tools to solve tuberculosis, and yet when we... 00:16:28.759 --> 00:16:30.799 haven't been able to just due to inequities. 00:16:30.820 --> 00:16:34.139 So trying to be able to send money there is one 00:16:34.139 --> 00:16:36.820 really nice way that we can do it. But even outside 00:16:36.820 --> 00:16:38.580 of just that, whether it's doting to people in 00:16:38.580 --> 00:16:40.879 your neighborhood or church, those are ways. 00:16:41.220 --> 00:16:44.580 Or if it's time, it's volunteering. Where can 00:16:44.580 --> 00:16:46.820 you try and help out? Where do you find you have 00:16:46.820 --> 00:16:50.679 a gift or an availability that you can use? I 00:16:50.679 --> 00:16:53.000 mean, I love the volunteering part as well, because 00:16:53.000 --> 00:16:56.110 I think. people do have an excess of time i think 00:16:56.110 --> 00:16:57.570 sometimes they can feel like we don't because 00:16:57.570 --> 00:16:59.269 we're like we have to do this and do this and 00:16:59.269 --> 00:17:01.870 do this and it's totally fair like don't burn 00:17:01.870 --> 00:17:04.569 yourself out don't be doing 20 things at once 00:17:04.569 --> 00:17:06.750 because that's not sustainable and it's not very 00:17:06.750 --> 00:17:09.210 healthy either right um but if you find that 00:17:09.210 --> 00:17:11.069 you do have some extra time like you know whether 00:17:11.069 --> 00:17:14.210 that's even serving at church or even just um 00:17:14.210 --> 00:17:16.769 anywhere by just giving a little bit of that 00:17:16.769 --> 00:17:20.509 extra time because kind of like um being a part 00:17:20.509 --> 00:17:22.430 of like a community and being part of a system 00:17:22.430 --> 00:17:25.470 you're you're building those relationships and 00:17:25.470 --> 00:17:28.910 at the same time you're uh giving back and you're 00:17:28.910 --> 00:17:30.950 reminding yourself that you're not just like 00:17:30.950 --> 00:17:33.410 one person handling everything on your own you 00:17:33.410 --> 00:17:36.109 are reliant on other people and other people 00:17:36.109 --> 00:17:40.230 are reliant on you as well right yeah yeah and 00:17:40.230 --> 00:17:43.210 then i think Yeah, I think all of this, like 00:17:43.210 --> 00:17:45.670 generosity, volunteering, the building relationships. 00:17:46.589 --> 00:17:49.950 I think one of the things that is just structurally 00:17:49.950 --> 00:17:52.829 different about gleaning versus like generosity 00:17:52.829 --> 00:17:56.349 is that it is planned ahead of time. It's like 00:17:56.349 --> 00:18:00.089 built into the design and the rhythm of the harvest. 00:18:00.130 --> 00:18:03.910 Right. And I think that feels really important 00:18:03.910 --> 00:18:10.049 because it's that act of saying generosity is. 00:18:10.910 --> 00:18:14.009 part of my life. It is how I will live. It is 00:18:14.009 --> 00:18:16.430 like a rule, a structure that I have built in, 00:18:16.529 --> 00:18:20.009 regardless of what's happening in my life. Yeah. 00:18:20.069 --> 00:18:22.210 Right. Regardless of whether this is a good year 00:18:22.210 --> 00:18:25.730 or a bad year, regardless of like what my time 00:18:25.730 --> 00:18:29.730 or whatever's happening, I'm going to put God, 00:18:29.950 --> 00:18:33.569 I'm going to put other people first. Yeah. That 00:18:33.569 --> 00:18:36.809 feels really hard. Yes. But I think that that 00:18:36.809 --> 00:18:39.650 is one of the primary things that this law is 00:18:39.650 --> 00:18:43.829 like, The heart behind it. Yeah. So one of the 00:18:43.829 --> 00:18:45.970 things I find interesting is like take out your 00:18:45.970 --> 00:18:47.950 calculator sometimes and try and calculate how 00:18:47.950 --> 00:18:50.509 much money would I make this year? How much money 00:18:50.509 --> 00:18:53.410 do I need this year? Can I give away? And same 00:18:53.410 --> 00:18:55.849 with time. Yeah. Look, you only have so many 00:18:55.849 --> 00:18:58.529 hours physically in a week. Yeah. How many are 00:18:58.529 --> 00:19:01.410 you needing? And where are the areas we can have 00:19:01.410 --> 00:19:04.150 some wiggle room and give? Yeah. And even if 00:19:04.150 --> 00:19:06.029 you try and mix it like a rhythm in your life 00:19:06.029 --> 00:19:08.269 and then you realize, oh, maybe I did too much 00:19:08.269 --> 00:19:11.130 this week. Yeah. Sometimes it's nice then to 00:19:11.130 --> 00:19:12.990 be able to ask others to be able to support you 00:19:12.990 --> 00:19:14.829 too. It's a community effort. You don't always 00:19:14.829 --> 00:19:17.869 have to be the one giving. I love that. That 00:19:17.869 --> 00:19:20.589 is such an important point too. Because I think 00:19:20.589 --> 00:19:22.690 kind of like where we're sitting here, even if 00:19:22.690 --> 00:19:25.329 people who have listened to the sermon from last 00:19:25.329 --> 00:19:27.730 week, we might think of ourselves as the farmer, 00:19:27.809 --> 00:19:30.210 right? Also, if you are in a place where you 00:19:30.210 --> 00:19:31.789 are the gleaner, where you're the one who's like 00:19:31.789 --> 00:19:34.670 kind of picking things up, like that's totally 00:19:34.670 --> 00:19:38.490 okay as well. Because I think... And we're going 00:19:38.490 --> 00:19:42.549 to be both people, both groups at different points 00:19:42.549 --> 00:19:46.650 in our lives. And I think it's just when we do 00:19:46.650 --> 00:19:48.950 incorporate that generosity, it's kind of like 00:19:48.950 --> 00:19:51.970 no matter where we're at in our life, there's 00:19:51.970 --> 00:19:54.289 like this one thing that's like kind of stable. 00:19:54.369 --> 00:19:57.450 That's like, OK, this is how I'm being rooted 00:19:57.450 --> 00:20:00.130 in community. This is how I'm trying to get closer 00:20:00.130 --> 00:20:03.599 to God or putting God first in my life. Yeah. 00:20:03.599 --> 00:20:06.180 Yeah. Yeah. And I think that like important part 00:20:06.180 --> 00:20:10.599 is that like generosity is the principle and 00:20:10.599 --> 00:20:13.319 what that looks like in each person's life is 00:20:13.319 --> 00:20:15.720 going to be different. Right. Like even financially 00:20:15.720 --> 00:20:17.819 speaking, like we could say, oh, it needs to 00:20:17.819 --> 00:20:21.000 be a certain percentage or whatever. Maybe. But. 00:20:22.019 --> 00:20:24.859 it could be different amounts of money. It could 00:20:24.859 --> 00:20:27.079 be not money at all. Right. Like some people 00:20:27.079 --> 00:20:29.200 can be more generous financially. Other people 00:20:29.200 --> 00:20:31.279 can be more generous with their relationships 00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:34.299 or with their time or like with whatever is happening. 00:20:34.400 --> 00:20:38.480 Yeah. Right. But I think, so when I think about. 00:20:38.859 --> 00:20:41.660 the financial piece of it like what becomes really 00:20:41.660 --> 00:20:44.279 clear to me is like if i put generosity first 00:20:44.279 --> 00:20:47.220 if i get my paycheck and the first thing that 00:20:47.220 --> 00:20:49.400 i do with my paycheck is give away a portion 00:20:49.400 --> 00:20:52.220 of my money yeah then i no longer have that money 00:20:52.220 --> 00:20:56.980 to spend on mcdonald's yes yes it's a good fail 00:20:56.980 --> 00:21:01.240 safe right and so then like obviously like there 00:21:01.240 --> 00:21:03.519 are things that i need to pay my rent and yeah 00:21:03.519 --> 00:21:06.000 put gas in my car and buy some groceries like 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:08.289 right so like i shouldn't give away so much much 00:21:08.289 --> 00:21:11.309 money that I can no longer afford to live but 00:21:11.309 --> 00:21:14.750 if I give away that money first then some of 00:21:14.750 --> 00:21:16.390 the things that I maybe would have spent that 00:21:16.390 --> 00:21:18.890 money on that I don't actually need maybe just 00:21:18.890 --> 00:21:22.230 don't need to happen yeah right and and that's 00:21:22.230 --> 00:21:25.890 okay it's priorities what do you set first if 00:21:25.890 --> 00:21:28.289 I'm prioritizing giving I'll give away first 00:21:28.289 --> 00:21:30.109 make sure that's the thing that's most important 00:21:30.109 --> 00:21:35.230 to me yeah and I think sometimes like so while 00:21:35.230 --> 00:21:38.490 we're talking about mcdonald's sometimes okay 00:21:38.490 --> 00:21:41.529 maybe i personally spend a lot of money on fast 00:21:41.529 --> 00:21:43.690 food i don't think i do particularly but like 00:21:43.690 --> 00:21:47.150 sometimes that's like a social activity too and 00:21:47.150 --> 00:21:49.650 it's like oh well if i don't have money to spend 00:21:49.650 --> 00:21:52.369 on going out with my friends then like i won't 00:21:52.369 --> 00:21:55.250 see my friends but maybe you can find ways to 00:21:55.250 --> 00:21:57.170 spend time with your friends that don't cost 00:21:57.170 --> 00:22:00.450 money and maybe that will be a really weird mind 00:22:00.450 --> 00:22:03.190 shift for some people maybe they're like well 00:22:03.190 --> 00:22:05.250 the thing that i do with my friends is go out 00:22:05.250 --> 00:22:07.369 for dinner or go to the movies or whatever right 00:22:07.369 --> 00:22:10.250 and like if you have space in your time and your 00:22:10.250 --> 00:22:14.170 budget to do that great but like maybe as a friend 00:22:14.170 --> 00:22:17.130 group you can sort of shift what you're doing 00:22:17.130 --> 00:22:19.579 and say actually well what if we just all came 00:22:19.579 --> 00:22:21.920 in and had dinner or what if we all go out and 00:22:21.920 --> 00:22:24.759 do this volunteer thing together right like are 00:22:24.759 --> 00:22:27.160 there ways that we can shift not just our personal 00:22:27.160 --> 00:22:30.720 sort of sense of generosity but like our our 00:22:30.720 --> 00:22:33.559 social yeah what we do with other people i think 00:22:33.559 --> 00:22:35.599 it's really funny now because i have a big friend 00:22:35.599 --> 00:22:38.319 group online and a lot of times for depending 00:22:38.319 --> 00:22:40.299 on which group of friends i'm playing sure a 00:22:40.299 --> 00:22:42.700 lot of them are really tight on money sure one 00:22:42.700 --> 00:22:44.240 of the things we always come back to is games 00:22:44.240 --> 00:22:46.680 that are free to play sure are some of our favorites 00:22:46.680 --> 00:22:49.140 yeah but even outside of that it's a community 00:22:49.140 --> 00:22:51.059 effort if we're all saying hey i found this really 00:22:51.059 --> 00:22:52.500 fun game that we want to play it's like five 00:22:52.500 --> 00:22:54.470 dollars and like I really don't want to spend 00:22:54.470 --> 00:22:56.970 money right now. I need to prioritize like rent 00:22:56.970 --> 00:22:59.410 and savings for school. Sure. Great. No worries. 00:22:59.450 --> 00:23:02.150 I have a lecture. I got you. Sure. It's community 00:23:02.150 --> 00:23:05.630 effort. Yeah. Yeah. I love that. And just like, 00:23:05.630 --> 00:23:07.829 I feel like it's like when you're with your friends, 00:23:07.849 --> 00:23:09.309 right? It's like, even just in that case, it's 00:23:09.309 --> 00:23:11.069 like, you know, this is someone that you care 00:23:11.069 --> 00:23:12.809 about. It kind of just like a little bit, like 00:23:12.809 --> 00:23:15.750 it kind of comes naturally in a way. Um, and 00:23:15.750 --> 00:23:19.309 even just in the verse, it's like when the farmer 00:23:19.309 --> 00:23:22.119 is like, harvesting doing the whacking of the 00:23:22.119 --> 00:23:25.039 trees and things like that it's i mean i mean 00:23:25.039 --> 00:23:27.160 i would assume that he's not like intentionally 00:23:27.160 --> 00:23:28.940 being like i'm not gonna pick that one i'm gonna 00:23:28.940 --> 00:23:32.700 pick this one well okay maybe maybe a little 00:23:32.700 --> 00:23:34.859 but it's kind of like it seems like naturally 00:23:34.859 --> 00:23:36.759 there's just gonna be things that are gonna be 00:23:36.759 --> 00:23:40.140 left behind yeah um and i think it's cool that 00:23:40.140 --> 00:23:42.940 god made it that way because I think maybe we 00:23:42.940 --> 00:23:44.619 can kind of look in our lives and being like 00:23:44.619 --> 00:23:47.799 well where have things just naturally where do 00:23:47.799 --> 00:23:50.299 we just naturally have an extra bit of time or 00:23:50.299 --> 00:23:54.019 naturally where we could um help someone out 00:23:54.019 --> 00:23:56.119 or build relationships or maybe give a little 00:23:56.119 --> 00:23:58.799 bit more to like church or just anywhere right 00:23:58.799 --> 00:24:00.940 and I think sometimes it doesn't have to be like 00:24:00.940 --> 00:24:04.599 a okay let me very intentionally give $20 to 00:24:04.599 --> 00:24:06.339 my friend every single week it could be like 00:24:06.339 --> 00:24:09.460 oh like we have the same interest. We all like 00:24:09.460 --> 00:24:12.099 each other. Oh, hey, five dollars. I'll do that. 00:24:12.119 --> 00:24:14.019 I think that it just comes a very like natural, 00:24:14.119 --> 00:24:17.359 smooth way. Sure. Or maybe it doesn't have to 00:24:17.359 --> 00:24:19.900 be such a huge pressure thing. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. 00:24:20.039 --> 00:24:21.960 I think one thing as well that's really beneficial 00:24:21.960 --> 00:24:24.859 is trying to help like destigmatize and remove 00:24:24.859 --> 00:24:27.039 the shame from being the people who do need to 00:24:27.039 --> 00:24:29.380 glean. Yeah. If you're just in a spot where like 00:24:29.380 --> 00:24:32.039 maybe you got just laid off and you don't have 00:24:32.039 --> 00:24:34.720 everything you need. Right. There's no shame 00:24:34.720 --> 00:24:36.680 in being laid off, especially if it wasn't your 00:24:36.680 --> 00:24:38.579 fault. Right. So some of the things is being 00:24:38.579 --> 00:24:40.759 able to lift people up and not put them down, 00:24:40.799 --> 00:24:42.799 not being like, oh, I'll leave some for you peasant 00:24:42.799 --> 00:24:44.619 in the side. Right, right, right, right. Don't 00:24:44.619 --> 00:24:46.779 say like, oh, that's hard. I've been there too. 00:24:46.980 --> 00:24:50.200 And can we help out? Yeah. Hey, I'm there for 00:24:50.200 --> 00:24:53.019 you. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. For sure. So 00:24:53.019 --> 00:24:57.009 what do you think? makes it so hard to put this 00:24:57.009 --> 00:25:00.769 into practice, right? So the principle, generosity, 00:25:01.130 --> 00:25:03.490 leaving space for other people sounds really 00:25:03.490 --> 00:25:06.230 good. I think we're all kind of on board. Why 00:25:06.230 --> 00:25:09.569 don't we all do that? Speaking as someone in 00:25:09.569 --> 00:25:12.410 school, like a lot of people around my age are 00:25:12.410 --> 00:25:14.490 really concerned with a lot of things of student 00:25:14.490 --> 00:25:17.289 debt. How much does schooling cost? Combine that 00:25:17.289 --> 00:25:19.589 with cost of living, increasing cost of grocery 00:25:19.589 --> 00:25:22.650 prices, increasing gas prices all over the map. 00:25:23.309 --> 00:25:25.730 So a lot of people are going, I don't know that 00:25:25.730 --> 00:25:27.750 I have physically enough for me, especially with 00:25:27.750 --> 00:25:30.769 like the classic American dream. Like make yourself 00:25:30.769 --> 00:25:33.329 your own person. Be able to buy a house is usually 00:25:33.329 --> 00:25:35.380 one of the big dreams. Yeah. And for a lot of 00:25:35.380 --> 00:25:37.660 people, that's not really a reality right now. 00:25:37.700 --> 00:25:40.339 Sure. And so especially when you're looking at 00:25:40.339 --> 00:25:42.920 those goals, it comes really hard to say, yeah, 00:25:43.000 --> 00:25:45.519 I have extra to give when I physically can't 00:25:45.519 --> 00:25:47.440 attain some of these goals. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:25:47.559 --> 00:25:50.079 So it looks like it's basically just a shift 00:25:50.079 --> 00:25:52.400 of mindset. We're playing a different game now. 00:25:52.480 --> 00:25:55.279 How can we change this game? And hopefully there's 00:25:55.279 --> 00:25:56.799 a lot of other people playing the game to help 00:25:56.799 --> 00:26:00.000 us change it. Sure. But how can we shift from? 00:26:00.430 --> 00:26:02.869 a moment of scarcity saying, I don't know that 00:26:02.869 --> 00:26:05.450 I have enough to being able to have a more open 00:26:05.450 --> 00:26:07.349 hand posture and be able to give just a little 00:26:07.349 --> 00:26:11.730 bit. I think also just, I feel like, yeah, like. 00:26:12.029 --> 00:26:14.910 as things get increasingly individualistic, it 00:26:14.910 --> 00:26:17.130 makes sense. Like, I feel like there's a social 00:26:17.130 --> 00:26:19.230 contract sometimes where it's like, for example, 00:26:19.230 --> 00:26:21.950 in this case, it's kind of like a social contract 00:26:21.950 --> 00:26:23.569 where the farmer who might be a little bit more 00:26:23.569 --> 00:26:26.349 well -off, they are supporting people who are 00:26:26.349 --> 00:26:28.289 going to need that extra support. At the same 00:26:28.289 --> 00:26:30.809 time, I feel like there's another social contract 00:26:30.809 --> 00:26:32.769 where it's like the older generation, they take 00:26:32.769 --> 00:26:35.130 care of the younger generation. I feel like that's 00:26:35.130 --> 00:26:37.130 not happening as much anymore. And I feel like 00:26:37.130 --> 00:26:39.670 that's why we have students, young people who 00:26:39.670 --> 00:26:41.329 have goals and all these things, but they're 00:26:41.319 --> 00:26:43.000 They're like, oh, my gosh, I need to save money 00:26:43.000 --> 00:26:44.599 for this. I'm trying to do this. I'm trying to 00:26:44.599 --> 00:26:46.940 do that. And it's like that makes so much sense. 00:26:47.099 --> 00:26:51.400 And I guess the way that things are, yes, do 00:26:51.400 --> 00:26:53.299 that. But at the same time, it's kind of like 00:26:53.299 --> 00:26:56.339 maybe you guys are the gleaners. Are the farmers 00:26:56.339 --> 00:26:59.099 leaving things for you guys? And maybe just socially 00:26:59.099 --> 00:27:01.539 where things are at, that's not what's happening. 00:27:01.680 --> 00:27:04.339 Right. And it's like those. kind of social contracts 00:27:04.339 --> 00:27:07.160 are being broken down and then what's happening 00:27:07.160 --> 00:27:08.740 is again like young people they're just trying 00:27:08.740 --> 00:27:11.259 to survive and kind of keep up not to blame the 00:27:11.259 --> 00:27:14.180 older generation um because i feel like i'm part 00:27:14.180 --> 00:27:18.359 of the older i feel i feel old but it's kind 00:27:18.359 --> 00:27:20.619 of like even just for me being like okay like 00:27:20.619 --> 00:27:24.240 if i'm you know, I'm almost 30, then like, what 00:27:24.240 --> 00:27:27.519 can I then do for the younger generation so that 00:27:27.519 --> 00:27:30.980 they can have things a little bit more, like 00:27:30.980 --> 00:27:33.059 ease things a little bit more too. And I think 00:27:33.059 --> 00:27:37.200 it, yes, I think in your example, because I think 00:27:37.200 --> 00:27:40.019 that just like is really sitting with me as being 00:27:40.019 --> 00:27:41.700 like, you know, young people, you're just trying 00:27:41.700 --> 00:27:43.380 to survive. So then what can the older generation 00:27:43.380 --> 00:27:45.799 do? What can groups that feel a little bit more 00:27:45.799 --> 00:27:48.319 well -off do? And I think that the shift in mindset 00:27:48.319 --> 00:27:51.410 is going to have to come from those kind of people 00:27:51.410 --> 00:27:54.150 and at the same time setting an example as well 00:27:54.150 --> 00:27:57.349 sure um and then having young people being like 00:27:57.349 --> 00:27:59.049 well yeah where can i you know maybe give a little 00:27:59.049 --> 00:28:01.890 bit more sure yeah and i think recognizing that 00:28:01.890 --> 00:28:05.490 like everyone not everyone everyone but a lot 00:28:05.490 --> 00:28:08.710 of people yeah are feeling crunched yes right 00:28:08.710 --> 00:28:14.500 and so not to say that that is anyone's particular 00:28:14.500 --> 00:28:17.500 fault not to say that like yeah it's just there's 00:28:17.500 --> 00:28:19.660 bad systems out there that are just not working 00:28:19.660 --> 00:28:24.279 for people absolutely right um and so in that 00:28:24.279 --> 00:28:30.960 how can we as followers of jesus say I'm not 00:28:30.960 --> 00:28:34.880 playing that game. Yeah. Right. To say, OK, the 00:28:34.880 --> 00:28:38.420 vision of of the American dream of the house 00:28:38.420 --> 00:28:40.460 with the white picket fence and the kids and 00:28:40.460 --> 00:28:43.259 the dog and whatever. Right. This is a great 00:28:43.259 --> 00:28:45.019 vision. I would love that. That would be great. 00:28:46.259 --> 00:28:48.960 But how do we opt out? And so I'm not playing 00:28:48.960 --> 00:28:51.599 that game. Yeah. Because actually what matters 00:28:51.599 --> 00:28:55.240 to me is. family actually what matters to me 00:28:55.240 --> 00:28:57.000 is loving my neighbor actually what matters to 00:28:57.000 --> 00:29:00.200 me is justice like whatever it is right and say 00:29:00.200 --> 00:29:02.980 that's what i want to orient my life towards 00:29:02.980 --> 00:29:07.019 right and therefore generosity just has to be 00:29:07.019 --> 00:29:10.279 part of that right because it's all in that same 00:29:10.279 --> 00:29:13.700 pathway and i'm not saying that's easy no um 00:29:13.700 --> 00:29:17.880 it and it will sound weird to a lot of people. 00:29:17.960 --> 00:29:22.119 It will not be successful, quote unquote. Like 00:29:22.119 --> 00:29:24.700 you're maybe not going to see the fruit of that 00:29:24.700 --> 00:29:28.519 in your life. Right. But just believing that 00:29:28.519 --> 00:29:31.519 that is the better way. That is the game. To 00:29:31.519 --> 00:29:34.539 play. Starting the spark that changes way more 00:29:34.539 --> 00:29:36.960 than just what we can on our own. Yeah. I think 00:29:36.960 --> 00:29:38.599 one of the ways as well that we can try to do 00:29:38.599 --> 00:29:40.720 this, especially moving away from just financially 00:29:40.720 --> 00:29:43.460 giving, is getting involved in your communities. 00:29:43.579 --> 00:29:46.160 Yeah. If this is a game that doesn't work for 00:29:46.160 --> 00:29:48.460 us, but is still the game that we're all playing, 00:29:48.660 --> 00:29:51.599 having a voice, trying to go to whether it's 00:29:51.599 --> 00:29:53.859 local events or voting, especially for voter 00:29:53.859 --> 00:29:56.279 turnout, is still really, really low in almost 00:29:56.279 --> 00:29:59.190 every area. Sure. So trying to have more people 00:29:59.190 --> 00:30:01.650 use your voice to say, hey, I think the game 00:30:01.650 --> 00:30:04.029 needs to change. How can we make this a better 00:30:04.029 --> 00:30:05.970 game for everyone? How do we change the systems 00:30:05.970 --> 00:30:07.910 that are currently in place that are failing, 00:30:08.029 --> 00:30:10.910 whether it's repairing them or just totally shifting 00:30:10.910 --> 00:30:13.849 them, finding something new. If no one says anything, 00:30:14.029 --> 00:30:16.289 it's not going to change. Got to work together 00:30:16.289 --> 00:30:18.809 for it. Yeah. I love that. So and it's kind of 00:30:18.809 --> 00:30:20.690 just like, yeah, I think maybe just socially 00:30:20.690 --> 00:30:23.450 we need more gleaning in our society. And maybe 00:30:23.450 --> 00:30:27.589 like I think Christians, we do have to. be the 00:30:27.589 --> 00:30:31.809 people who are trying to glean and love thy neighbor 00:30:31.809 --> 00:30:34.990 and do the things that God has told us to do 00:30:34.990 --> 00:30:37.549 in a world where people are moving away from 00:30:37.549 --> 00:30:38.829 that. And it's like, I understand why people 00:30:38.829 --> 00:30:40.430 are moving away from that. Cause things, again, 00:30:40.509 --> 00:30:43.490 people are in a crunch. It feels more urgent. 00:30:43.569 --> 00:30:46.390 It feels more like if I don't do this and like 00:30:46.390 --> 00:30:49.109 all these things are going to happen. And sometimes 00:30:49.109 --> 00:30:52.150 they, they do happen. Right. But I think it's 00:30:52.150 --> 00:30:55.069 like as Christians kind of taking on. bearing 00:30:55.069 --> 00:30:58.289 that cross right yeah yeah yeah and just like 00:30:58.289 --> 00:31:02.849 believing fully or maybe believing partially 00:31:02.849 --> 00:31:05.470 but like doing it anyway but just like believing 00:31:05.470 --> 00:31:10.329 that it is the better way yeah yeah right even 00:31:10.329 --> 00:31:13.089 though it makes no sense that the way of jesus 00:31:13.089 --> 00:31:18.910 that chooses self -sacrifice that chooses generosity 00:31:18.910 --> 00:31:24.470 and love over a vision of success, right? That 00:31:24.470 --> 00:31:27.710 just is the better way. Yeah. That just is what's 00:31:27.710 --> 00:31:32.490 going to ultimately make us happier, make us 00:31:32.490 --> 00:31:38.470 healthier, make us wholer as people. Yeah, because 00:31:38.470 --> 00:31:41.250 I think the truth of the like American dream 00:31:41.250 --> 00:31:45.029 success path is that like you get the white picket 00:31:45.029 --> 00:31:46.809 fence and the two kids and the dog and you're 00:31:46.809 --> 00:31:51.569 like stuff there. But but no, you get the white 00:31:51.569 --> 00:31:53.170 picket fence and the two kids and the dog and 00:31:53.170 --> 00:31:55.190 you're like, oh, actually, well, what if I also 00:31:55.190 --> 00:31:57.430 just had this nicer car? One more. What if I 00:31:57.430 --> 00:32:00.069 also just like got this one more promotion in 00:32:00.069 --> 00:32:02.670 my job? Right. Whereas if you opt out of that 00:32:02.670 --> 00:32:05.500 and you say. actually, I'm not playing that game. 00:32:05.579 --> 00:32:10.740 My definition of success is all based on faithfulness 00:32:10.740 --> 00:32:16.319 to Christ. Then, like, you can be satisfied at 00:32:16.319 --> 00:32:19.920 a certain point. What do I need? And if all I 00:32:19.920 --> 00:32:22.539 really need is God? Well, that's a, that's a 00:32:22.539 --> 00:32:26.599 low bar. He's already there for me. It's awesome. 00:32:26.920 --> 00:32:29.880 And also just like, again, I just, so I just 00:32:29.880 --> 00:32:31.440 love their story of Ruth and Bo. That is one 00:32:31.440 --> 00:32:34.039 of my favorite stories in the Bible because it 00:32:34.039 --> 00:32:37.460 just shows like how intentional God is. And generally 00:32:37.460 --> 00:32:39.380 it's like, as we're having this conversation, 00:32:39.500 --> 00:32:41.259 like people might think like, okay, so I guess 00:32:41.259 --> 00:32:43.480 I'm just. going to glean i'm going to also leave 00:32:43.480 --> 00:32:45.359 things for people i'm going to you know set up 00:32:45.359 --> 00:32:47.440 the system and maybe there's this there is this 00:32:47.440 --> 00:32:50.019 idea of like self -sacrifice which i think is 00:32:50.019 --> 00:32:53.059 is important um but also you never know where 00:32:53.059 --> 00:32:55.299 god is going to take something right yeah maybe 00:32:55.299 --> 00:32:59.140 you've spent your leaving like three hours of 00:32:59.140 --> 00:33:02.079 your week to serve in church or to go here or 00:33:02.079 --> 00:33:04.319 to do something. Right. You never know what God 00:33:04.319 --> 00:33:08.539 is going to use from that to bring really cool 00:33:08.539 --> 00:33:11.259 things into your life. Maybe you thought you 00:33:11.259 --> 00:33:15.380 needed those three hours to work three more hours. 00:33:15.599 --> 00:33:20.769 Sure. More hours. Yeah. Yeah. But. You just never 00:33:20.769 --> 00:33:23.930 know, right? And I think God never asked us to 00:33:23.930 --> 00:33:25.990 be like, okay, figuring everything out. He just 00:33:25.990 --> 00:33:30.089 asked us to obey. He asked us to stick with him 00:33:30.089 --> 00:33:33.630 and then he kind of handles the rest. Yeah. Of 00:33:33.630 --> 00:33:35.650 all the systems that have not failed us, God's 00:33:35.650 --> 00:33:38.289 the big one. Oh, I love that. Oh, that popped 00:33:38.289 --> 00:33:43.490 up. That was really good. Thank you. Yeah, so 00:33:43.490 --> 00:33:46.230 as we sort of wrap up, are there any sort of 00:33:46.230 --> 00:33:49.279 like practical tips or like, thoughts that you 00:33:49.279 --> 00:33:50.980 might leave people with with okay what does it 00:33:50.980 --> 00:33:54.599 look like to leave margin in our finances in 00:33:54.599 --> 00:33:57.839 our time in our relationships i think the thing 00:33:57.839 --> 00:33:59.880 for me is just to be intentional about it whether 00:33:59.880 --> 00:34:01.660 it's start of the week or start of every month 00:34:01.660 --> 00:34:04.140 start of every year it's just take a little bit 00:34:04.140 --> 00:34:06.539 of time to be intentional about how can i give 00:34:06.539 --> 00:34:09.079 where can i give sure and if you're not in a 00:34:09.079 --> 00:34:11.280 position where you can give much the pressure 00:34:11.280 --> 00:34:13.360 is not for you to give a lot it's to give what 00:34:13.360 --> 00:34:15.550 you can Yeah. And so it's be intentional. Hey, 00:34:15.670 --> 00:34:17.849 I might be able to volunteer here or maybe I 00:34:17.849 --> 00:34:19.869 can just help out, whether it's just with friends. 00:34:19.889 --> 00:34:21.869 Sure. I can be there for them. And this time. 00:34:21.929 --> 00:34:24.630 Yeah. Just being intentional. Set some time aside. 00:34:24.989 --> 00:34:27.489 Try to plan it out and build it into your daily. 00:34:27.789 --> 00:34:30.309 Yeah. One of the things that I really like that 00:34:30.309 --> 00:34:33.489 Mike talked about was like in leaving margin 00:34:33.489 --> 00:34:36.730 in our attention for other people. Right. That 00:34:36.730 --> 00:34:40.230 sometimes it's just about asking one more question. 00:34:40.599 --> 00:34:43.099 It's just about hearing the end of that story 00:34:43.099 --> 00:34:45.780 and not being like, oh, sorry, I need to do this 00:34:45.780 --> 00:34:50.079 other thing. But just being like, yeah, let's 00:34:50.079 --> 00:34:54.139 just take some space right now to be fully present 00:34:54.139 --> 00:34:57.880 with this other person. And that is something 00:34:57.880 --> 00:35:01.219 that doesn't cost us any money. It costs us some 00:35:01.219 --> 00:35:04.400 time. It costs us some mental energy. And maybe 00:35:04.400 --> 00:35:07.519 not everybody has the space for that, but a lot 00:35:07.519 --> 00:35:10.630 of people do. You can take that time. two minutes 00:35:10.630 --> 00:35:13.650 to ask that one more question to just dig a little 00:35:13.650 --> 00:35:16.269 deeper dig a little deeper be a little more present 00:35:16.269 --> 00:35:18.730 yeah yeah the same with like you know the five 00:35:18.730 --> 00:35:21.670 minutes after the church right just taking that 00:35:21.670 --> 00:35:25.050 time to like talk to people get some coffee get 00:35:25.050 --> 00:35:27.710 some cookies and even just like that can feel 00:35:27.710 --> 00:35:29.590 like especially if you've had a long week you're 00:35:29.590 --> 00:35:31.250 like i just want to go home yeah but it's like 00:35:31.250 --> 00:35:34.079 just kind of taking that time and you never know 00:35:34.079 --> 00:35:36.400 what might come out of it right and you never 00:35:36.400 --> 00:35:38.699 know how that might fill your cup or fill someone 00:35:38.699 --> 00:35:42.099 else's cup um and i think just i love ben what 00:35:42.099 --> 00:35:43.960 you said about intentional because we can be 00:35:43.960 --> 00:35:48.460 like oh yeah so i'm just gonna set 10 of my earnings 00:35:48.460 --> 00:35:51.000 and then i'm just gonna that's my way of contributing 00:35:51.000 --> 00:35:53.360 but it's like if you're just kind of like i guess 00:35:53.900 --> 00:35:56.059 giving the money but you're not building that 00:35:56.059 --> 00:35:57.880 relationship you're not actively trying to get 00:35:57.880 --> 00:36:00.460 involved in like systems and communities and 00:36:00.460 --> 00:36:05.000 it's kind of like well maybe we can look at volunteering 00:36:05.000 --> 00:36:07.179 you know or maybe if people feel uncomfortable 00:36:07.179 --> 00:36:10.579 with giving because it is something that folks 00:36:10.579 --> 00:36:12.320 feel uncomfortable with which is just so valid 00:36:12.320 --> 00:36:15.800 right um then just Give an hour of your week 00:36:15.800 --> 00:36:17.820 or give two or three hours of your week. Yeah. 00:36:17.860 --> 00:36:20.559 And just start there. Yeah, for sure. For sure. 00:36:20.780 --> 00:36:23.380 Absolutely. Yeah. Well, thank you so much, folks. 00:36:23.820 --> 00:36:26.340 Yeah, I think this has been really helpful to 00:36:26.340 --> 00:36:29.579 unpack this. Yeah. Sort of random law. Right. 00:36:29.679 --> 00:36:32.340 That we can read it and be like, OK, cool. I 00:36:32.340 --> 00:36:35.440 don't harvest grapes. So moving on. Right. But 00:36:35.440 --> 00:36:37.420 there's a principle there. It was intentional. 00:36:37.519 --> 00:36:40.380 It was super intentional. And God says, leave 00:36:40.380 --> 00:36:43.769 space. for other people, even when it's hard, 00:36:43.889 --> 00:36:46.510 even when it means that you're not going to be 00:36:46.510 --> 00:36:50.050 successful by the world standards, there is a 00:36:50.050 --> 00:36:54.409 better way. And there is a way that shows love. 00:36:54.989 --> 00:36:57.510 for our neighbors and therefore brings love back 00:36:57.510 --> 00:36:59.869 to us. Yeah. Right. As we build these whole communities 00:36:59.869 --> 00:37:02.190 of people that care for one another really well. 00:37:02.289 --> 00:37:04.610 Yeah. Our job is just to find it and choose it. 00:37:04.650 --> 00:37:07.369 Yeah, for sure. Yeah. And thank you for tuning 00:37:07.369 --> 00:37:10.190 in to this week's episode of Trinity Talks. I 00:37:10.190 --> 00:37:12.969 pray that you are able to make space for other 00:37:12.969 --> 00:37:15.130 people, whether that is in your finances, in 00:37:15.130 --> 00:37:17.469 your time, in your attention, in your energy. 00:37:17.710 --> 00:37:19.530 And I pray that you are surrounded by people 00:37:19.530 --> 00:37:22.829 who make space for you and that together, as 00:37:22.829 --> 00:37:25.840 we all make space. We can share in the beautiful 00:37:25.840 --> 00:37:29.440 love that God has given to each of us. And we'll 00:37:29.440 --> 00:37:30.280 see you again next week.