Butter Tub Cereal Bowls??

    It seems most of the movies and books I've read lately have been about WWII - and how there were just regular people willing to help escapees just to stay alive.  Even amidst all that evil there were still many brave people who were willing to do what was right in spite of the threat to their own lives.  I have a theory that there are some (but too few) people who just almost always can be counted on to do the right thing.  There are many, many who are just in it for themselves.  But I think the majority of us are somewhere in between - we feel really bad for the one needing help and we just hope we have what it takes to step up to the task.

On a smaller scale,  I've always loved those commercials and the movie about "passing it on" - "it" being an act of kindness.  Last night at small group someone was talking about some 'random acts of kindness' they had witnessed lately at checkout counters because of the economy and loss of jobs.  It reminded me of stories my mom use to tell me about the Depression.  She said there were always men and sometimes families stopping at the back door seeking a little of whatever  could be spared.  Somehow, they were always able to scrape up some food or clothes to share.  That attitude always remained with my parents.  I particularly remember daddy and I taking bags of groceries down the street to an old german couple who could barely speak English.  But I know my parents were always willing to help out - even if it was just to send me next door to shovel the walks.  They were little things but  it was just what you were suppose to do.

I'll be the first one to tell you I don't understand the politics or the technicalities of our failing economy - and I have no idea if I should start saving my butter tubs (why exactly did people who went through the depression save these??) or worse - start saving catalogs for toilet paper.  But I really wonder if we'll be seeing more 'random acts of kindness' or if society has gotten so far gone that the thieves and violence are going to take over.  I thinking maybe we all need to step up and look for those opportunities to lend a hand when we can and then to tell them to "pass it on".