A Season for the Spirit: Congratulations to the Poor!

"Congratulations to the poor!" proclaimed Jesus in what we call the Beatitudes, a pious term which helps us muffle the impact. - Martin L. Smith

But is Jesus saying congratulations to the people we often criticize with words such as "lazy,"unambitious," "uneducated," because they have accepted their terrible destiny and only dream of heaven?

Not exactly. If we keep reading in the Beatitudes we discover that Jesus is referring to the poor as "blessed" because they "thirst for righteousness." They want wrongs to be righted and this is the way God's righteousness works. His justice set wrongs right. The hungry and poor among us desire change, a word that our current presidential nominees have already worn out, and they yearn for a type of justice that gives them a respectable life with a respectable future.

I come up with excuses to NOT be as involved as I should be. My excuses are often, "I cannot speak to their environment. Let someone else who truly knows do it. That way, it is more sincere." Another is, "I need more money in my pocket too. I have expensive children and energy prices are on the line." And then I become frustrated at the politicians that are going to try to take more of my money away from me. "Let me become a bit more settled and then I will give." And then I go to Starbucks for my grande mocha latte.

All of this is true. Life is expensive and my priority should be my families future and a consistent giving to my church...the people I know very well.

But we all know the answer is not pocket change. It's not even found through handsome donations to individuals in need. I am committed to giving my pocket change to those who ask but we all know and realize that this will not create the necessary component to alter the life of poor people in each city.

The answer is CHANGE. (again, not the change in our pockets)

Poverty is more systematic than we wish to admit.
Wealth itself depends on a dissociation with the poor. And I have found that politics often distort the true nature of the wealthy in our country. Rich people are not mean and evil. They are usually nice and giving. But the separation between rich and poor exist.

"The problems are systematic, vast, the changes necessary so revolutionary, the resistances so colossal...while I analyze and cultivate my pious hopelessness I can keep my hand over my wallet. Sometimes, though I would not dare to say it out loud, I reckon that poverty is actually the human condition and will never change. Therefore, the claims of the poor must be resisted. With such falsehoods I struggle against the Spirit to keep out of solidarity with the poor."

If God is calling each of us to have solidarity with the poor, then we must allow the Spirit to make known the poverty within us. We have to allow the Spirit to speak the Beatitudes to the poor within us. We must internalize our dependence on God. We need him. We need change. Each of us within.

Jesus prime concern was that we discover this unique need for our own "daily bread" and "deliverance from evil." So let us not be fearful of praying for ourselves. Isn't it amazing that even when we pray for others. we are many times doing this so that we will not have to pray for ourselves? And if we do not pray for ourselves, we deny the Spirit an opportunity to show us how needy we are. Each of us within.

Only then can we promote change in our communities. Let us not condemn our needy self to silence. If we do this then we will forever disassociate ourselves from the poor around us and things will never change.