there were homeless people sitting on a bench. they looked sad, jaded, and discontent with their lives, i wondered if they disliked their lifestyle would they still sit there?
so i have been pondering this for the last 23 minutes and 20 seconds. what does it mean to be poor? who are the poor? what can i do for them? how can i change their lives?
these are compelling questions filled with argument and debate concerning wonderful things like politics (which i don't normally enjoy), which pit those for and against poor against each other. or perhaps the concepts of comparing the poor here in the US to the poor that i met while i have traveled 3 other continents. or maybe even thoughts flirting with the ideas of "pooredom" being about a state of mind, or a an intellectual battle pervading the minds of these three homeless people i saw instead of a struggle for material.
i decided that first, i wasn't going to bring politics into it. second, i decided i would not compare people, that removes their personhood and makes them an object. so that leaves me with this idea that being or living poor is about a mindset. i had this extensive conversation with a good friend of mind about how he thought that being poor is a mentality. i am not sure if i agree totally, but here were some thoughts i had: if a person believes themselves to be poor by either what others say (or public policy), or if they compare themselves to other they see, they basically are basing their lives on others, and not from themselves. if this is the case, wouldn't that mean that even if you gave a person all the money in the world, they would still remain poor? maybe some just need a leg up? if we were to give to the homeless, however, when does that end? when does one realize that they are rich because they are alive and that they are rich because they value themselves and that others value them as well? when are there no more poor? all i can say is i don't really know. how can i?
so my challenge to myself was - talk to these people the next time i encounter them and then perhaps i can understand more about all these things that i currently don't understand. maybe i will figure it out someday.
- peaks out.
1 comment:
It's funny how we use wealth as a means of measurement. I too have thought about "the poor" as you have.
I believe we need to place our focus on the "poor of spirit." I am for clothing and housing the poor, but these physical states need not be our focus. It is harboring relationships with those who need a savior. These peripheral things will come together on their own.
After all, Jesus was homeless on earth, too.
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