POVERTY

This I have said before:  I may not have everything I want, but I have what I need.  By this countrie's standards I am poor.  By the standards of other countries I am rich.  I have a roof over my head, electricity, indoor plumbing and heat.  I have a warm bed to crawl into at night.  I am blessed.

Poverty in itself is not a virtue.  Poverty is a way of life in third world countries, a force that the multitudes have no or little control over.  It is a enforced way of life and unwanted. 

Poverty in religious life or in a secular life is a chosen vow  or promise, for the good of a community or a personal sacrifice-commitment, for the good of the spirit.  If poverty will help me on my personal journey, I will try to live without all the extraneous material things that clutters up my life.

You will say, "But you have a computer...a TV...good transportation...and food in the pantry!"  Yes, I do, yet I am far from being wealthy or even of the lower income class in this "land of plenty."  People on "the dole" have more money than I do and all the nice things that they can acquire.  I don't care...I have what I need.  Even so, there are so many in this country that are absolutely and truly poor and destitute, lacking in the basic necessities.  We just don't see them... even with wide open eyes.

If you can or do practice a spiritual poverty, then you know that it is a disputation of spirit over the mind and body or your temporal desires.  I am slowly divesting myself of material things and wants. 

 It is isn't easy because we always "want."  It is human nature to see what others have and you or I, don't.  Remember, most of the great and bloody wars were fought for land and riches.  Many will say that religion was the cause of all the big conflicts, but that is just an excuse for greed, jealousies and just plain evilness. 

The Bible speaks of poverty many times.  To paraphrase, Jesus tells His disciples it that its more difficult for a rich man to get into heaven than for a Camel to pass through the eye of a needle.  Yet it does not say "imposable."

Much of the teachings-The Word of Christ-had to do with poverty, and the spiritual and physical state of man.

"But when you givest alms

do not let thy left hand

know what the right hand

is doing, so that thy alms

may be given in secret:

and thy Father,

who sees in secret;

will reward thee.

Matt. 6: 3-

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The spirit of the Lord is upon me

because He has anointed me;

to bring good news to the poor

he has sent me.

Luke 4: 18

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For the poor you have always with you,

but you do not always have me.

John 12: 8

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Search for more about the poor in Matt. 25: 34-40...26: 11.

See Luke 6: 20 and 6: 36.  Also read The Beatitudes in Matt. 5: 3-11 and in Luke 6: 20-23.  The Old Testament has numerous texts about poverty and alms giving.

With Thanksgiving and Christmas just around that proverbial corner, keep in mind all of God's poor that will being doing without.  If you haven't money or material goods to give...then perhaps a visit or a needed task or activity can supplant in place of.    "Brother, can you spare a dime?  How about "Brother, can you spare some time?"  Remember: You are not supposed to tell the world, "I did this or that."

OK.  I got a few things done and went to the Dollar Tree for some things.  I finally went to the Chinese Restaurant for a late lunch.  Eating out is one of my weakness, but even that is being "given up" in a sense.  I also super cleaned my kitchen floor to the point that the mop water was pretty clean and clear.  Maybe I over-cleaned?  But then again, "Cleanliness is next to Godliness"....right?

END