"I CAN USE THE ONE PER-CENT!"

This is another kind of one per-cent!

• Luke 21:1-4: "And He looked up and saw men casting their gifts into the treasury. And He saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. And He said, "of a truth I say unto you that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all. For all of these have of their abundance, cast in unto the offerings of God; but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had."

  Calling all “normals”...a reminder that we are all created by God and have great value.

• Usually, the "one per cent" description is a modern description aimed at those with great wealth, the small minority of those with lots of money.

• Papa God's short message to me with the title of this shorter piece, "I can use the one per-cent”, immediately meant to me that He was speaking of another one per-cent. That would be people like myself and others, who feel very steeply aside from the mainstream of hard-driving culture, those of us who just do not fit in...and those who constantly struggle over money. I am not in debt but I struggle.

• In my past, I lived 31 years in San Francisco, California, running to survive. I had many "short hops" jobs that involved my work as a Personal Assistant, within the "gig economy." They kept me afloat, just barely, but they fed my restless spirit who did not do well in one single job for....40 hours a week.

• One of these gigs involved assisting a man who was a math tutor. He had a tiny office in outer San Francisco and he tutored young people, most in Jr. High or High School in various math studies. For the parents who trusted him with their child for an hour, this tutor wanted them to feel comfortable with him being alone with their offspring. He asked me to simply sit in the room with him and be a kind and quiet Elder presence there. I would let the kids in at the front door and them escort them out when the parents came to pick them up.

• One such student was a courtly young man in high school. The tutor, in his description of this young man, described to me that "his family is likely one of the One Per Cent", meaning those of significant wealth. My job was generally not to engage with the kids or chatter at them unless they spoke to me. As I escorted this young man out toward the door one day, I heard Holy Spirit tell me to "bless this young man with a short prayer." I took a deep breath and looked him in the eyes and said "God, bless this young man and guide his life!" He stopped a moment, smiled and said "Indeed!" and walked out the door. This was a small seed of God's love planted.

• For God to refer to someone like me as the "one percent " and that He can actually work with me, this was phenomenal, typical of Papa God's immense heart and mercy! He keeps me off-guard and guides me slowly toward not being hide-bound in my walk with Him and His Son.

• God is a Teacher, the Teacher of all Teachers and He has ways that differ from the mainstream methods. His ways are RELATIONSHIP, blessed sons and daughters, not pressure or condemnation. I am grateful for this, as pressure and condemnation do not work remotely for me.

• Because I so frequently feel emotionally raw, I can paint myself into a corner. For God to repeatedly, relentlessly and yet gently tell me " I gave you gifts, W.E.W, and I will guide you by my Holy Spirit, in how to use them with efficacy, to encourage others with the same struggles. Just hold fast to My hand!”

• Part of my temperament is being street-smart. This involves being observant, quietly scanning surroundings and tempering judgment based on immediate evidence. When you cannot depend on a stuffed bank account, you must be a warrior and dig deep to hear the still small voice of Holy Spirit. He does not yell. His quiet voice is to forcefully nudge you to shut up and deeply listen. He knows where the gems are, often hiding in very plain view and sometimes even within ourselves!!

• I suspect many of us who struggle so much over money, mostly desire to live simply, not participating in the pressured drive UP the mountain to conquer it. We would rather TEND and be the caretakers of that mountain! Cannot I just be "normal"?? What is wrong with that? "Normal" is an undergirding of society! We are the blessed “grundoons!” We are humble foundations. Each of us is a created being, a holy compendium of both Mom, Dad and our Divine Creator. Each of us has amazing gifts that are a combination of what God gave us as abilities and our life experiences, both good and difficult.

• Holy Spirit gave me a fascinating phrase as I was writing this piece:

  "Heaping the Pressure off!" I was totally taken off-guard by this intense description. Usually the heaping is from the ON phase... as in “DO THIS NOW! SUBMIT, BOW DOWN, OBEY THE HUMAN MASTERS!”

• Wow...HEAPING the pressure OFF! That means a formidable SHOVE against the darkness, to push the unpleasantness off the cliff and claim our place, our gifts, offering our voice, our abilities and our prayers for the help of others, as we are guided by God.

• I think I...can actually do that…

  Wendy Elizabeth Williams January 3, 2025

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