Circles are a heckuva thing
Proverbs 19:17 17 Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done.
I’ve always liked the circle even though I struggled mightily to draw a perfect one, hence my love for my protractor. I wonder if they would consider that pointy thing a weapon in today’s schools? Anyway, most of my attempts, try as I might, came out a little bumpy or lumpy or didn’t quite match up when I approached the point where I started. So, my question is, ‘Is a circle still a circle if it’s not perfect’? It turns out the answer is yes and no.
A circle by definition is a shape where all right angle lines drawn from its center point to the bounding line are equal (the bounding line being the edge). The thing is there are no perfect circles in nature. Each and every one of them has, at some point on its edge, some variation from the other points on that same edge. Since there are no perfect circles then we’re forced to live with something we call a circle but doesn’t quite fit the definition. We can only expect a perfect circle in or from something beyond our world. Where does this fit in? Trust me I’m getting there.
The proverb says if we’re kind to the poor it’s like lending to the Lord. So, think of it as giving 3 units of kindness (which are very hard to measure by the way) and since this is a loan, we get 3 units of whatever reward the Lord decides to give us in return. It’s a perfect quid pro quo. It’s the perfect “what goes around comes around” in our world which doesn’t have any of these perfect circles. And that’s okay for a couple of reasons.
Knowing our world doesn’t contain that kind of perfection ought to make it easier to accept a truth. If we offer kindness to the poor whether they’re poor in monetary terms, poor in health, poor in spirit or poor in any manner our world doesn’t encompass perfection so the circle or at least it’s path back to us shouldn’t be expected to be perfect if it matches back up at all. Only our Lord can give us that satisfaction. Only he can deliver on that promise. And our reward, often far from the monetary, turns out to be just what we need.
Perhaps not what we expected but perfect in every way. So, give your kindness to the poor and be rewarded in kind, to perfection.
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