To Console the Despondent and Counsel the Perplexed, I Hope This Helps Somebody

Minister Paul J Bern
4 min readApr 28, 2024

Those Who Are Living Paycheck to Paycheck Are More Blessed Than They Realize

by Minister Paul J. Bern

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A Matter of Perspective

I don’t have to explain what’s been happening to the US middle class over the last 35 years or so. Everyone is fed up with living paycheck to paycheck. Going to the ballot box, so far, has not helped. Now we have people talking about the possibility of another civil war, and America’s citizens are emigrating at record levels (I have a passport myself, just in case). The ones who are staying are stockpiling guns and ammo. So, the main purpose of this week’s Sunday message is to console those who are angry and hurt, to counsel those who have been pushed aside or shown the door without just cause, and to reassure the frightened and confused. It’s not hard to get pretty perplexed about current events. But there’s a plus side to being poor or oppressed. Allow me to cite a few examples from Scripture.

Beginning to Explain and Evaluate

My first example is that of the apostle James, who was a very astute individual, and so his writings are something to take very seriously. “5) Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has

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Minister Paul J Bern

Rev. Paul J. Bern is a Web pastor and blogger on The Social Gospel Blog on Medium and Substack. Longtime Atlanta Ga. resident; stroke survivor; piano player