Posts Tagged: "poverty"

If I allow myself to be a companion of the poor, if they give me their permission to walk with them…

I’ve been reading a book called Spiritual Journeys – An Anthology of Writings by People Living and Working with Those on the Margins, compiled and edited by Stanislaus Kennedy. Some of the contributors to this book include Jean Vanier and Henri Nouwen (my favorites).

The book includes a chapter by Edward J. Farrell – who had been a priest working in a poor parish in inner-city Detroit. I wanted to share some of what he said in this book…

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Immense gaps between people exist worldwide. Such disproportionate inequity touches every sphere of human existence: the economic, the educational, the psychological, and the cultural.

Life is not fair.

The experience of the poor has confronted me with my own poverty. I am poor because I never had the genius to make a significant difference for people in need. I am poor because I have done so little. I am poor because I live so comfortably. The Gospel is a constant reminder to me that I must… Read More

Advent Day 15: Stay Close To The Poor

I tore through Father Greg Boyle’s new book “Barking to the Choir” in a couple of days (a healthier option rather than Netflix binge-watching). He’s part poet, priest, comedian, and master story teller. This book tops my list of favorites from the past year and it’s one that I will re-read a number of times.

Here is a quote from chapter 8, The Choir…

Dorothy Day, when asked how to live the Gospel, she simply replied: “Stay close to the poor.” She could have said, I suppose, help the poor, rescue the poor, save the poor. But no… Read More

Advent Day 7: Advent Isn’t A Guilt Trip But It Is A Journey Into Compassion

*Pictured above: Kahal, a homeless man I met this past Spring. He’s worked a number of jobs—in kitchens, landscaping, Uber driver… but has recently fallen on hard times. He doesn’t have an address right now, or a computer, and this makes applying for jobs a challenge. I thoroughly enjoyed talking with Kahal. He was pleasant, intelligent, and kind. He was quick to smile and laugh.

Those who cannot see Christ in the poor are atheists indeed. —Dorothy Day

Advent, the season of anticipating and waiting and reflecting on the arrival of Christ, is a journey that leads us into compassion. We can’t think about Christ’s coming without remembering the humble, low, and socially unacceptable truths of this story…

—a young unmarried minority girl who is pregnant

—no friends or family to call on for help, no place to go for shelter

—needing to squat where it was allowed—in the animal barn of the local inn

How would this story sound if it had played out in 21st century America?

Perhaps Jesús would have been born in the early morning hours at a downtown homeless shelter.

At the end of Jesus’ ministry on earth, he spoke of the final judgment and those who would be… Read More

Lent Day 23… On Care For Our Common Home

This beautiful prayer is Pope Francis’ “Laudato si” (On Care For Our Common Home)…

 

All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe

and in the smallest of your creatures.

You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.

Pour out upon us the power of your love,

that we may protect life and beauty.

Fill us with peace, that we may live

as brothers and sisters, harming no one.

O God of the poor,

help us to… Read More

Lent Day 5… Beautiful People Do Not Just Happen

Suan (pronounced “swan”) is one of our youth leaders at church. His family is from Burma—and they have recently taken in a refugee from Burma to live with them. At our youth winter camp last month, I became curious about Suan’s family… wondering if perhaps they had been refugees themselves.

I asked Suan at camp, “Did your family immigrate to the United States, or did you come as refugees?”

Suan said they came as refugees. And then he told me their story:

When he was 10 years old, they boarded a small fishing boat with 50 people. They had nothing but the clothing on their backs and each other. He doesn’t know exactly how long they were on the water but he does remember how treacherous it was. And throwing up until there was nothing left in his stomach, then continuing to throw up nothing.

When they finally arrived on the shore, they were warned that men with machine guns might come and take them to use or sell as slaves. They were hidden in the jungle. There in the jungle, transportation arrived: a Honda Civic… and 15 people were loaded into the car (stacked in the back seat on top of one another, many in the trunk). They were taken to a safe place. From there, they eventually made it to Malaysia and were placed in a refugee camp.

They lived in the refugee camp for 2 years until finally they were given clearance to live in the United States. Today, Suan is a U.S. citizen. He has a job. He serves in the church.

And he has more joy than anyone I know.

Elizabeth Kübler Ross said:

The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.

I know what it is to be poor or to have plenty, and I have lived under all kinds of conditions. I know what it means to be full or to be hungry, to have too much or too little. —Philippians 4.12

 

Crickets

Crickets. That’s what you hear when you’re sitting around a campfire late in the evening. Not the sound of Fox News or CNN. Not the firing of weapons from Call of Duty. Just the joyful song of crickets.

It’s also the description we give when there is absolutely no response to something… when people are quiet. Pastors talk about this often: “When I preached on ______________, it was crickets out there.”

I suspect the subject of living a quiet life with less is one of those cricket-inducing themes in the American church today.

The shouts and hanky-waving and “Amens!” are gonna come with statements like… Read More

Low & Slow Enough To Listen

If men do not keep on speaking terms with children, they cease to be men, and become merely machines for eating and for earning money. —John Updike

I wonder if we are “maturing” to a place where most of what we do is a never ending cycle of producing and consuming, consuming and producing. Or as Updike put it, machines for eating and for earning money.

Tina Francis spoke of this recently—when she talked about being still and knowing He is God. She said, “It’s when I’m no longer producing or consuming that I am most able to experience God’s love.”

We often think in terms of how the poor need us, or how children need us – for help, instruction, advice, etc.

But truthfully, we need the poor, and we need the child. They instruct us in the way of the Kingdom.

They remind us to play, to listen, to enjoy small and simple things.

They remind us to celebrate, to sing, to imagine.

They remind us to make use of cardboard boxes and sticks and to not be afraid of the dirt.

If we do not keep on speaking terms with the poor, with the child, we lose… Read More

Where The Kingdom Of God Is Located

I love what Richard Beck has to say about the Kingdom of God…

Jesus is telling us in the Beatitude where the Kingdom of God is located.

And it’s located Jesus says, among the poor in spirit.

Christianity is fundamentally about learning to see.
 That is what Jesus said, over and over.
 The Kingdom is near. The Kingdom is at hand. The Kingdom is in your midst.

But the Kingdom is small and unnoticed, like a… Read More

Expert-Delusion & Ivory Towers

Have you ever seen a large ship – like a cruise ship – use its propulsion jets to turn around in the relatively shallow waters of a port? The force of water blasting through the jets stirs up everything…

And what was once beautiful, crystal-clear, blue ocean water now becomes murky-brown, as if someone had turned water into a fishy-smelling pumpkin spice latte.

That’s what the comment section of YouTube does too. Blasting. Stirring up. Leaving behind murky-brown, fishy-smelling nastiness. People will say things online that they would never say to someone’s face – certainly not to someone they have a relationship with and actually care about.

Christians do this too. Facebook and other streams of social media have become… Read More

I Am From Dusty Streets

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Our friend Moses Masitha spoke at NWLife Church yesterday. As he began his message, he talked about the importance of our stories. He said, “When you ask where someone is from, to simply answer ‘Renton’ or ‘Kent’ does not adequately answer the question. We are a collection of stories. I am not just from South Africa, but I am a collection of experiences and stories.”

He went on to say, “Our stories, brought together… Read More