Beautiful! It seems a precarious position in life to adopt material poverty, but who is more reliable than God? (Who is Love?) As Jesus said, the birds of the air do not worry about their clothing. God provides, so that the birds can be themselves, birds, singing joy into the world, warning their fellows, supporting each other during the winter flight, calling for help when resources are not apparent. Poverty is not necessarily a lack of resources, but a lack of relationship - a source of love and help, in the measure that you have yourself put into relationship.
Some believe that the poor who cry for help are simply lazy and can pick themselves up by their bootstraps. (If anyone has tried this literally, it is easy to see the illogic in it.) But we did not see the rich man even attempt to put on the mind of Lazarus to see the underlying cause of his hunger. Was he lame? Was he unable to communicate? Was he mentally challenged? Was he a victim of a culture as heartless as the rich man himself - blaming the victim instead of offering him food, shelter, suitable employment, a chance to express the best in himself, or whatever was truly necessary? Lazarus was not voluntarily poor, but involuntarily poor - and a symptom of what is wrong with a rapacious culture, that is filled with anxiety instead of love.
Beautiful! It seems a precarious position in life to adopt material poverty, but who is more reliable than God? (Who is Love?) As Jesus said, the birds of the air do not worry about their clothing. God provides, so that the birds can be themselves, birds, singing joy into the world, warning their fellows, supporting each other during the winter flight, calling for help when resources are not apparent. Poverty is not necessarily a lack of resources, but a lack of relationship - a source of love and help, in the measure that you have yourself put into relationship.
Some believe that the poor who cry for help are simply lazy and can pick themselves up by their bootstraps. (If anyone has tried this literally, it is easy to see the illogic in it.) But we did not see the rich man even attempt to put on the mind of Lazarus to see the underlying cause of his hunger. Was he lame? Was he unable to communicate? Was he mentally challenged? Was he a victim of a culture as heartless as the rich man himself - blaming the victim instead of offering him food, shelter, suitable employment, a chance to express the best in himself, or whatever was truly necessary? Lazarus was not voluntarily poor, but involuntarily poor - and a symptom of what is wrong with a rapacious culture, that is filled with anxiety instead of love.