Blessed are the poor
Daily Reading for June 11 • St. Barnabas, Apostle
Is poverty abysmal or blessed? One of the most famous lines in the Gospels is Jesus’ beatitude: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God” (Luke 6:20). Through the ages, Christians have been puzzled by what Jesus meant.
Many people act as if death is the worst thing that can happen to one, and pain the most tragic, but they are not. More to be feared are lovelessness, apathy, self-centeredness, or dread. But in our society, so often it seems that what we fear most of all is impoverishment and its companions: exclusion, ridicule, stigma, coercion, or early death. Poverty in spirit may refer to the characteristics in which people—whether they are materially deprived or not—do not rely on material provisions for their security and sense of self. The spiritually poor may be more “totally at the disposition of the Lord.” Dealing with harsh conditions of impoverishment sometimes creates a kind of intimacy with one’s own limits that deepens the soul. It can even create joy. Kahlil Gibran’s phrase is often quoted because it is often found to resonate with people’s experience: “The deeper sorrow has carved into your being, the more joy you can contain.” So the poor in spirit are “blessed” or happy—and this blessedness has a stable core that neither ridicule nor penury can rock.
From What Can One Person Do? Faith to Heal a Broken World by Sabina Alkire and Edmund Newell. © 2005 by Church Publishing, Inc. Used by permission of Church Publishing Incorporated, New York, NY. www.churchpublishing.org
Although I think we need to be careful not to romanticize economic poverty, recognizing that poverty of spirit can be a blessing seems especially important in these times. With the current widening gap between the economically rich and poor in the U.S., we are easily trapped into focusing our attention on the material dimension alone.
Posted by JeanFitzpatrick![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.episcopalcafe.com/thesoul/nav-commenters.gif)
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June 11, 2007 12:33 PM
George Will in his column in the New York Times on Sunday observed that affluence creates freedom, a freedom enjoyed by a globally unprecedented percentage of U.S. citizens. Spiritual emptiness or longing often accompanies that affluence, i.e., spiritual poverty. Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount may have had spiritual poverty in mind or perhaps the voluntary poverty that he chose for himself. However, the Church should never call involuntary poverty – insufficient resources to obtain adequate food, water, shelter, and healthcare – a blessing. Jesus acted to end involuntary poverty, healing the sick and feeding the hungry.
Posted by George Clifford![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.episcopalcafe.com/thesoul/nav-commenters.gif)
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June 11, 2007 1:36 PM
I like to use the analogy of family. When one member of the family, especially one of my children or grandchildren, is going through a particularly difficult time, I feel more compassion for that child. It's not that I love that child more than the others, but I will reach out more, because the need is greater.
I see the poor as especially dear to Jesus in just that way. He loves us all equally, but I expect that he feels a special love for those in difficult circumstances.
I don't believe that Jesus blesses poverty. He directs all of his brothers and sisters to act in love toward the poor and to relieve their suffering as we much as we are able.
June Butler
Posted by GrandmèreMimi![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.episcopalcafe.com/thesoul/nav-commenters.gif)
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June 11, 2007 7:37 PM
P.S. George Will is full of it.
June Butler
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June 11, 2007 10:49 PM