Picking garbage?

[gvclviv]

Cheers!

Long time no see, being hardly loaded with work.

Now need some help with some question.

A person earns his life by picking waste paper and other garbage. He works himself, with his own hands, not begging from others.

I think that doing such job is not a sin. Someone disagrees.

I'd like to

1) know what does really Bible teach and

2) is there something written in Watchtower magazines on this issue?

I have not found anything bad about such business. Not any disfavorable entry. Did you see just any (favorable or disfavorable) qualification of such work?

I want to know because it comes about accusation in non-Biblical conduct. What a weird imagination we can have sometimes!

Could you please help me?

Or, if not, would I better just ask the accuser, what Bible principles are violated?

Thank you in advance!

To Moderator: I'm not sure that the topis reers to this branch, please correct in case of fault.

[GrumpysWife]

Are you saying that you go to dump areas and pick garbage or you go through peoples trash that has been put out for the garbage truck? Not that it matters for me. When we were 1st. married, Grumpy got our dishes and furniture at the dump:thumbsup:. We were very poor. Later on he did dumpster diving to get food when we had no money and he had no job:eek:. There were times when we ate better than when we did have money to buy our food:eat:. He also found lots of stuff that he sold><. Now a days, I don't think anyone can pick through the trash here in the USA or at least not in Florida.

[gvclviv]

Are you saying that you go to dump areas and pick garbage or you go through peoples trash that has been put out for the garbage truck? Not that it matters for me.

Great!

It reminds me a story that was described in Awake in 1976 that two Norwegian schoolboys were travelling without money and eating what they found in garbage. The food they found there in trash was good enough so they didn't feel bad.

I work as a translator and earn well, but the man I ask about is workless, so he picks ...

A question is, was there any article mentioning such work as bad or good (as an example of a brother taking care of his family).

[GrumpysWife]

We were in the Truth and Grumpy had no work and this was the only way we could figure out how to feed my 4 hungry boys. We also went to farmers and asked if we could glean from his field after the harvesters were done. Most allowed us to get whatever we needed. If someone can't find a job to provide for their family then they need to get creative, until they are able to change their situation. That's what we did. Personally I don't see anything wrong. I'll see if I can find any references in the WT lib.

[GrumpysWife]

I could find nothing negative about picking garbage. So far I found these interesting articles.

*** g75 8/22 p. 29 Watching the World ***

Ancient Law Works

◆ Several groups of elderly Californians have successfully launched what they believe is a novel way to cope with today’s costs. They request commercial food handlers to give them damaged and short-weight foods that would normally be wasted, and ask farmers for permission to pick what remains in their fields after the harvest. Something new? No, the idea is over 3,000 years old—it is found in the Bible’s Mosaic law. The “gleaning” of the harvest had to be left in the fields for less fortunate persons. One farmer remarked: “They’re not asking for something for nothing. They’re out here cutting and picking themselves.” And a food-packaging company official declared: “If there were more people with this frame of mind, the whole world would be a better place to live in.”—See Leviticus 23:22.

*** it-1 p. 963 Gleaning ***

It is evident that this fine arrangement for the poor of the land, while encouraging generosity, unselfishness, and reliance on Jehovah’s blessing, in no way fostered laziness. It throws light on David’s statement: “I have not seen anyone righteous left entirely, nor his offspring looking for bread.” (Ps 37:25) By availing themselves of the provision made for them by the Law, even the poor, by virtue of their hard work, would not go hungry, and neither they nor their children would have to beg for bread.

*** g75 12/8 p. 30 Watching the World ***

Gleaning Corn

College students in Illinois gleaned hundreds of bushels of corn by hand after mechanical harvesters finished the regular harvest. With corn selling for about $3 a bushel at the time, they were making money to donate to private agencies that help feed the world’s hungry. One student, observing that if the corn was not picked by hand it would be left to rot until it was plowed under, said: “What you see here is just a small sample of the appalling waste in modern, mechanized farming.” Agricultural experts estimate that about 5 percent of the country’s 5.7-billion-bushel corn crop is missed by the combines.

*** it-1 p. 962 Gleaning ***

GLEANING

*** g95 4/22 p. 29 Watching the World ***

Our Garbage Talks

What is our garbage saying? It is telling us what patterns of human behavior we follow. Garbage reveals what we consume and what we waste. “People who live routine, predictable lives waste less, because they tend to buy only what they need and consume what they buy,” said The Toronto Star. Surprisingly, when there is a shortage of something, “people, paradoxically, waste a lot more of it than when it’s abundantly available,” added the Star. Why is this so? People hoard. They buy more than they need and then dispose of what they do not use. Hot dogs—lots of hot dogs—are the most common food found in wet garbage. Paper, an abundance of paper, particularly newsprint, finds its way into landfills. The computer age has added more, not less, paper to our dry garbage. The overall message of our garbage is that we are living in a wasteful society.

[gvclviv]

Thank you very much, sister Vernalee! It's really important to me.

I think I'll use Leviticus 23:22 when I talk to that accuser.

To pity, I can't talk or help the poor man he blames, because that man is disfellowshipped. I can only do what I can.