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hello all,
it's been a while. i hope this means as much to as it has to me since i learned it...

did you know there are tribes around the world who do not have a word for "mine," but only for "ours." that seemed so foreign to me, and in a way (after thinking about it for a while now) it still does, but it also has become a beautiful idea to me. here in america, it's all about me, me, me.

i have a new car.

that ipod is mine.

that $5 is mine, don't touch it.

mine, mine, mine...

so much of our life revolves around what "i" have and need and want that it becomes the goal of a persons life to acquire as much stuff as they can, so that we may claim it as "mine." and lately, that hasn't been sitting well with me...

it is becoming more and more clear to me that this stuff shouldn't matter, and that what we do have should be tools used to further the kingdom of God. if this is true then why do we even bother to worry about "mineness?" in act 2.42-47 it says that the early believers worked together and shared all they had so that all their needs were met.

how beautiful is that? a group of people sharing whatever they had to so that nobody went without. a very well known story displays the beauty and good that can come from sharing and not worrying about what is "mine." this story is the feeding of the multitude with the bread and the fish. of course, the miracle performed in this story is great, but we can learn so much from the boy who offered the bread and the fish. this boy heard that there was a need for food that day, and rather than going and eating before others could ask him for his food, he offers it to jesus (probably thinking that it would not make much of a difference). but because he saw the need of the community there, the other followers of christ, the "our" christ was able to feed 5000 people.

the things christ would be able ot do if we could just let go of worrying about what is "mine" would be fantastic, but to often that doesn't happen. the idea of "mine" is destroying people (christians especially) everyday. what would happen if we viewed all we had as belonging to the body of Christ. if we as followers of christ do away with this, then who knows what christ could multiply and do with it.

maybe we should be begin to move away from "mineness" and begin the process of learning to view all as "ours" so that none must go without...