How bad is this recession? Pretty bad, according to the folks who run a charitable food pantry at an Assembly of God church in New Jersey.

Here’s how NJ.com described it:

“MILLVILLE – Back in January 2009, official at the First Assembly of God food bank reported only two or three people per month darkening their doorstep.

That didn’t last.

‘We’re serving almost 400 people a month at the food bank now – and now we’re out (of food),’ said Eddie Pennino, food bank coordinator at First Assembly of God. ‘When I say we are out, I mean out.

‘We need help.’”

I am so thankful to be in Little Rock, part of the country where the economy is ailing, but not yet awful. I was reading about Fort Myers, where the price of a typical home has plummeted nearly two-thirds since the bottom fell out of the housing market. In other words, a home that cost a quarter-million dollars a few years ago is now selling for well under $100,000.

A Christian Scientist lecturer was in North Little Rock recently giving a lecture about prayer and the economy. I seem to remember Jesus striking a similar theme:

Matthew 6 says:

25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
27Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
28″So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
31″Therefore do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?’ or “What shall we drink?’ or “What shall we wear?’ 32For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Speaking of lilies, I’ve planted Asian lilies in my back yard and they’re finally in bloom. Pink and red and orange and yellow. The big Easter-style white lilies will be opening next. After they fade, there’ll be plenty of day lilies bursting into color. Summer in Arkansas has finally arrived.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 25th, 2010 at 12:37 pm and is filed under Religion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.