Have you ever gone out for a walk and noticed a penny on the ground? I have, and my first thought was to just pass it by, because pennies are worthless and can't buy much. I can remember growing up going to the corner store to buy candy for a penny, which can't be done today. As I passed by the penny I thought how many people we just ignore because we think they are worthless.
How about that person incarcerated in the county jail or state prison? What about that person's family? They are the ones really doing the hard time. How about the person living on the street, you know the one, he lives under the bridge or in the park or sleeps in the hallway of the local police station or office building? Then there is the person who is hungry and has no money to buy food. Then there are those addicted to alcohol or drugs, or the single mom struggling to provide for her family. And we can't forget the elderly living on less than $1,000 a month struggling to pay their bills and put food on their table. These are the people I encounter on a daily basis.
We pass them by because we do not want to have to talk to them. I used to think people who didn't know Christ weren't worthy of my time. I was too afraid to confront anyone with the life-saving information that I had to give. I was watching their soul float away in the rising flood water and not doing anything to help.
How many of you have felt this way? I don't any more because of the work of the Holy Spirit in my life. Plus the heart that God gave me would not allow me to not to risk my life to save a lost drowning soul. Just as I would not stand idly by and watch a person drown, I could not watch a lost soul die without doing something.
We pass by those pennies every day and we see them, but we don't pick them up because they we think they are worthless.
Look at Matthew 25:35-40: "I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you took me into your home. I needed clothes, and you gave me something to wear. I was sick, and you took care of me. I was in prison, and you visited me.'
Then the people who have God's approval will reply to him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or see you thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you as a stranger and take you into our homes or see you in need of clothes and give you something to wear? When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?'
The king will answer them, 'I can guarantee this truth: Whatever you did for one of my brothers or sisters, no matter how unimportant {they seemed}, you did for me."
In this passage, Jesus is getting a point across. God does not create worthless people. Every unborn child or every retired person and everyone in between are worth a lot to God. They are worth the life of his only son. Just like you are. Not only do they have worth, they have an eternal life. Jesus states in this passage the consequences for not recognizing the worth of all people can be bad. Jesus is calling us to reach out to those the world has discarded as being worthless.
I am so glad to be a part of the Jail Ministry of Otsego County that is doing what Jesus said as we reach out to those incarcerated and also to their families. Lives are being transformed on a weekly basis as the word of God is being preached in our Sunday chapel services, Bible studies, one-on-one counseling and our Christ-centered 12-step program. Also through our Gifts From the Heart Christmas outreach, the children of inmates are not forgotten.
This year through the generosity of churches, organizations and individuals in our county we able to provide gifts to 144 children who have a parent incarcerated in our county jail or state prison. I thank you for your help in making this outreach a successful one. I am also glad to be employed where on a daily basis I get the wonderful opportunity to reach out to many people in need.
As we have just entered into a new year may I challenge you to ask God to use you to reach out to those the world has discarded as being worthless?
Ameen Aswad is the executive director of the Jail Ministry of Otsego County
Columns
We must understand the value of every soul
- Big Chuck D'Imperio
- Cary Brunswick
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Some wisdom is best passed down through books
I was visiting a friend out-of-town recently and the subject of providing a "reading list" to young people came up in conversation. He said years ago he had asked a respected acquaintance in Oneonta to compile such a list for his teenage daughter, to help her be better prepared for life, culture, education, politics and people.
Continued ... - Let pragmatism, not politics, determine birth control debate
- As Center Street Elementary goes, so goes Center City
- U.S. intervention in Syria's uprising would be a gamble
- Santorum, Obama both got it wrong on Honduras
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- Chuck Pinkey
- Guest Column
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If we don’t develop a sustainable system, who will?
In Otsego County’s local elections last fall, a number of candidates — most of them on the independent Sustainable Otsego line — ran on an anti-fracking, pro-sustainability platform. They recognized that our current way of life — dependent on increasingly scarce, costly and polluting fossil fuels — cannot continue.
Continued ... - Time to get off the bus and on the computer
- Cuomo's Machiavellian maneuvers are a danger
- Home rule laws aren't a radical idea
- Sustainable shouldn't be a dirty word
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If we don’t develop a sustainable system, who will?
- Lisa Miller
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Being a parent is a constant learning process
I am sitting cross-legged on the floor in the dressing room, waiting for Allie's dance number to be called. The cave girl costume has been donned, the jazz shoes double-tied, the hair pulled back, the requisite dab of lipstick applied.
Continued ... - Healthy doesn't have to mean expensive
- A family era ends with close of Potter series
- Independent stores make up for loss of Borders
- Untethered from the cable box
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Being a parent is a constant learning process
- Mark Simonson
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Perfect attendance by Saturday’s Bread for 20 years in Oneonta
Oneonta became a settlement and has been a place to do one's "trading," whether it was the 18th century, or 2012, because of the five valleys that converge here. Only the places of doing the "trading" have changed a bit over the last 100 years, and Oneonta remains a place that attracts visitors and has always been a decent place to live and work.
Continued ...
100 Years Ago - Recalling the Hindenburg, John D. Rockefeller in May 1937
- Oneonta residents had diversions aplenty in the spring of 1952
- Damaschke essential to ensuring Oneonta baseball in 1927
- Area tunes to WONT in November 1972
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Perfect attendance by Saturday’s Bread for 20 years in Oneonta
- Rick Brockway
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Climbing is one thing, but skydiving?
OUTDOORS COLUMN BY RICK BROCKWAY ... Last week, my friend George and I returned to the Gunks for another rock-climbing adventure. After last week's column, I asked about the rattlesnakes and was told not to worry. Rattlers are usually quite timid and will avoid people as much as possible. It's the copperheads that'll give you trouble. They're aggressive and will stand their ground to defend it. Oh great!!
- Rattlesnakes may be closer than you think, so pay attention
- Spring is here, so fishing should pick up soon
- Sneaky fox may be the next animal looking to horse around
- Pass down the rush of turkey hunting to your kids this weekend
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Climbing is one thing, but skydiving?
- Sam Pollak
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I'm happy with our kids to a certain degree
It was several years ago, and I was in the kitchen, telling my eldest daughter and my then-teenaged son about the person who was taking over as publisher at The Daily Star.
Continued ... - I get by with a little help from my 'friends'
- It’s not easy for a politics junkie to get off the stuff
- The Encyclopaedia Britannica in print, unmourned by me
- Angelo Dundee was always a good man to have in your corner
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- William Masters
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Time for lawmakers who put needs of society first
Richard Lugar, after six terms as a Republican senator -- known for his middle of the road rationality and his foreign policy finesse -- has been ousted by a Tea Party extremist backed by outside right-wing funding.
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War not worth gambling with lives of soldiers
Are you not tired of our war in Afghanistan? It had a point, once, after 9/11. Bush couldn't distinguish his myopic personal agendas from the nation's needs and let Osama escape, dropping the ball entirely, causing many deaths.
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Titanic was a microcosm of U.S. economic disparity
Haunting reminders of the Titanic tragedy have wafted over us with the centenary of its sinking. The maiden voyage of an impressive, state of the art vessel, was a little like that of the Challenger space shuttle, at the cutting edge of developing technology. But the shuttle carried our pride in science and space exploration, not hundreds and hundreds of people.
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William Masters: Nation stands divided between 'us' and 'them'
In February, Trayvon Martin was shot dead as "suspicious" by a volunteer neighborhood watch man. The case has aroused community reaction in Sanford, Fla., and is still echoing across the country.
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A quarterback can't win the game alone
What is the relationship between democracy and wealth? Democracy is a political system, while wealth relates to economics. We have equal political rights, but we don't all have money. Extreme differences destroy the continuity of community solidarity.
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Time for lawmakers who put needs of society first
