. . . Easter Sunday

Ecclesiastes 9:13-16 – 13 I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14 There was a little city with few people in it. A great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. 15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 So I said, "Wisdom is better than might; yet the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heeded."

Poverty datebook for today:

The Willson Lectures: "Embracing an Activist Spirituality," presented by Jim Wallis, editor of Sojourners and convener of Call to Renewal, an NCC partner, March 11-12 at Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana. Information: 800-432-1377 or 765-983-1423.

Good works that 'work':

Any company doing business with the city of Los Angeles must pay its employees enough so that they do not fall below the poverty level.  The Los Angeles living wage ordinance was passed in part through the efforts of an organization called Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE).  An American Baptist missionary, the Rev. William Campbell, is CLUE's outreach coordinator.  He is part of a broader economic justice program supported by the denomination.  Read more ...

In 2001, nearly 60 percent of local hunger relief agencies reported an increase in the number of people requesting food aid since 1997.  (Second Harvest)

Preaching about poverty:

"Recognition of the Covenant United Methodist Teenage Mother Infant Center."  Pam Couture, Professor, Practical Theology and Pastoral Care, Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, Rochester, N.Y.   Preached November 14, 1999, at Covenant United Methodist Church, Rochester, N.Y.