Who's Generous?
According to a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, President Bush has been outperforming President Clinton on donations to help reduce poverty in Africa. Apparently even Bono of U2 and Bob Geldof has been acknowledging that the US "has hardly been stingy".
Also in the same article the US contributes to a Global Fund that fights AIDS and other diseases in the developing world. With the fund capped at 33% for the US, $88 million was retained. The article didn't mention what it was being retained for. Since I'm currently reading God's Politics, I'm wondering if George Bush is doing anything for poor people here in America.
In any case I find that a plus one for the Bush Administration, with regard to their international aid and development policies. It would be truly a great blessing to see President Bush extend that compassion here at home. After all home is where the heart is.
Tales of The Quotes
Last year U.S. bilateral aid to Africa was $3.2 billion compared with $1.1 billion in the final year of the Clinton Administration. The Treasury Department says nearly one-quarter of every dollar in development assistance to sub-Saharan Africa last year came from the U.S. Last month Mr. Bush committed another $674 million in humanitarian aid to the region, which exceeds the entire U.S. budget for sub-Saharan aid in 1997
Also on the subject of American "stinginess," U.S. efforts to do more have sometimes been stymied by the lack of generosity from other rich countries. Consider Mr. Bush's five-year, $15 billion initiative to fight AIDS in Africa. "I think he's done an incredible job, his Administration, on AIDS. And 250,000 Africans are on anti-viral drugs. They literally owe their lives to America," Bono said on NBC's "Meet the Press" a week ago Sunday.
It remains to be seen how generous we are — Americans that is locally. My own experience and worldview are too narrow to make a difference on the global level. But here at GrX I can serve by giving my time to small ministries such as City Team, Habitat for the Humanity, and the SF Foodbank to lend a helping hand. Thank God I can still do that — single relatively healthy and abled! 
Love Thy Neighbors
I admit that this is not easy for me to practice, especially if it means loving the person who pained me or caused me to suffer. But "Love thy neighbor" is not as hard as it looks on the surface. It just means respecting others and attend to their needs and desires as highly as we attend to our own. After all, if we obey God's first and greatest commandment we'll be acknowledging God's creation &mdash we grow to recognize that everyone is part of His creation. (Matthew 22:36-40)
It just takes baby steps... 
Who's Generous?
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It's cool you helped out at Habitat for Humanity. Silvia and I did that last year. I was hammering for most of the day and discovered one thing: I would never make it as a carpenter.