Being Poor

Has it ever occurred to you that if no one was poor, you'd never have the chance to be charitable?  No one wants to think they are at the bottom of the pecking order, but  if no one is needy, we are all poor. Poor because we haven't had the opportunity to give with a loving heart.  Poor because we haven't had the chance to show compassion.  And tonight I learned a new perspective.  We would be poor because we would be missing out on the presence of Christ. 

The St. Vincent De Paul stated that the poor are our Masters.  They are our teachers, and we can learn much from them.  They are the folks that Jesus hung around with, and still does.  I heard Author Jane Knuth speak tonight.  Her book is Thrift Store Saints (get it, read it, thank me later.) She tells wonderful stories about her adventures working at the St. Vincent De Paul Society's Thrift Store, and I LOVED it!  It's full of stories about meeting Jesus face to face...in the poor. She sees the Light in them!  She has been given the gift of seeing the Jesus in them, and she has the courage to share that vision.  God Bless Her (and them)!   Without them, what would we learn? 

Think of any Jesus story.  What did the poor (or adulterous, or down-trodden) person teach you?  The Woman at the Well?  The good Samaritan?  The blind people?  (Who are not necessarily poor in this time of history, but in Jesus' time, were beggars.)  When the lady pours the perfume on Jesus, Judas gets all cranky and starts talking about her wasting money.  (He's worth it, Judas.) Jesus says the poor will always be with us.  That's really not bad news.  If the poor are still with us, we can still learn. One important thing we have to learn is "who is the poor one?" 

Someone has a whole closet full of clothes they never wear.  He/She has a few favorites they wear most of the time, so they donate a bunch of them to the Thrift Store so they can buy new ones without feeling guilty. (Although hopefully, you just do it out of the goodness of your heart.)  A guy comes in and is given a hoody that's been worn once.  It's his protection from the wind, and he wears it every day, (it's even his favorite team).  Who is the rich man in this scenario?  The one who has all he needs, or the one who needs all he has?   

It's okay to be the poor one sometimes.  It's okay to be the needy one.  Jesus loved them a lot, and used their stories to teach us about love and acceptance and forgiveness.  And thanks to Jane, He still does.