Where Do You Stand??

Dear Folks,

I write this just ahead of the Income Tax deadline. I won’t tell you when I filed, just say it’s done. It is a bit daunting to make one’s way through the maze of tax law under the best of circumstances. Whatever your position in this tax season, the reality is that we are all better off than most when we put it in a global context.

Before I give you a tool to find the answer, I want you to guess what your ranking among the world’s richest people is. For point of reference according to the world census clock (http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/popclockworld.html) there are roughly 6,660,878,099 people in the world. That’s in the BILLIONS. Where do you think you stand my number? Are you in the top Billion? Higher? Lower? Hmmm, interesting to think about. Okay, if that’s too hard, where do you think you fall in terms of percentage? Top 25%? Top 10%? Higher? Lower?

I’ll leave it to you to answer the questions and then go to this Website The Global Rich List (www.globalrichlist.com) and figure it out. You’ll have to convert the filter to dollars and then put in your income and see where you stand. I must admit I was humbled by both my rank and percentile. Let’s just say I (that is my family) is in the top 1% globally.

Why do I bring it up? Because perspective is important and we can do more good than any of us know if we begin from a posture of gratitude and abundance instead of fear and scarcity.

One of the marks of Missional Communities is gratitude and a sense of abundance in the face of God’s many blessings on our lives.

Whether you owed the IRS or are getting some of your money back, remember that all that we have is a gift from God. Our families, our homes, our ability to work, earn, save, spend and above all to give. God loves a cheerful giver! I pray that we all have the grace to give according to what God has given us.

Peace and Good,
The Rev. Warren Earl Hicks, Rector
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
921 Pleasant St.
Worcester, MA 01602
508-756-1990 (Office)
508-756-8277 (Fax)
Blog Address http://www.frwarren.blogspot.com