on spiritual poverty. a public manifesto part 1.

Poverty is unattractive.  It is not a word with which people hope to be identified.  In our culture, being poor is tantamount to having leprosy or gangrene.  Poverty is a political hot button in an election year when the domestic economy is the key issue.  How can one avoid becoming aligned with the poor and appear not to neglect the poor? Government support, the so called safety net programs, is under scrutiny.  Many politicians would like to reduce or eliminate these programs.  Christians should be concerned about federal budgets that increase military or defense spending, but reduce spending to help the poor. But we have been party to that logic for a few decades now.  And Christians are not outraged. The majority of us are not poor and those of us who are poor do not have a voice.  So, with rare exception, Christians do not share one mind or one voice on poverty and the poor.    

I have said before that I have come to see poverty as deeply systemic and broader than financial sufficiency.  There are wealthy people who are impoverished in their relationship toward God and others.  There are financially poor people who are rich toward God and others. There is a spiritual poverty that can accompany financial poverty or wealth.  Spiritual poverty is at work in every aspect of health; mental, physical, and relational/emotional. But Americans have privatized spiritual matters to the extent that we do not see the connection between God and wealth.  We do not correlate spiritual poverty and other presenting issues.  We don't have the diagnostic tools to recognize how our spiritual condition affects the life we are living.  We have marginalized or ignored those people who have those tools.  We prefer to listen to people with a positive message.  We only appreciate the power of positive thinking and our ability to tune out negative voices.  Avoidance,denial, and self-medication to amelioriate pain is the name of the game.  Because pain relief is the key to life.  We thing that acknowledging the poverty in our lives is acknowledging failure, weakness, and insufficiency. BUT, avoidance is costing us our very souls! (Not the 'going to burn in hell for eternity' cost; but the 'quiet acquiescence to the hellish brutality that is life on earth' cost.)
              

    So, how do we address the spiritual needs of people who are unaware of their spiritual poverty? 

I took a stab at it with a woman who has been emailing me for some time.  She is struggling with anxiety, the stress of low income and household needs. A big part of the story is isolation and an unhealthy understanding of self-reliance.  (The American way of life is NOT ideal, because self-reliance and rugged individualism are not sustainable in this highly connected world.  My personal economy is tied to global factors in ways unforeseen 100 years ago).  I always hope to stretch people about faith in God and everyday life experience.  Often the two are not equated.  This is what I wrote today:      

"I want to talk with you guys about the faith factor. Acknowledging that there is a God, who has created all things and sustains all things by providing for our needs, is an essential first step in addressing your anxieties. Because an important lesson for all of us is that we do not bear the burdens of life alone. And we are not powerless under the weight of the things with which we are struggling. But so many of us are disconnected from the source of power. Plugging in can and often does lead to greater security, peace, and stability.

I have seen what God has done for people. I have seen real change. Hope. Basic needs addressed. Increased health. Reconciled relationships. I have seen God do things that we cannot do ourselves.

Thing is, God is invisible. Until our eyes are opened and we “see” in a new way. So how do you begin to see God at work? Believe it and be baptized. You don’t need to have it all worked out to become part of the faith community. Because there are invisible, spiritual, forces involved in life. You are already connected to this faith community through me. Baptism is the way God claims us, adopts us as children, and frees us from the things that cause us to doubt or reject God.

And then you can begin the training. Church is a gathering of believers who are learning to see God at work in their lives. (At least it ought to be. It is what we are about here). Trusting God will not make all the problems or troubles go away. But God will give you peace. Are you interested in strengthening your connection with God? If you’re not sure, that’s okay. I’m just opening a door." 

How can we address spiritual poverty?  Acknowledge it and counter it with the story of God, a loving and merciful creator, whose purpose is to fill life with divine goodness. I recently shared publicly about why I am religious:  I am religious because I need to connect with God and others.  There is no way to connect and not be religious.  Prayer, meditation, sacramental worship, reading Scripture, serving others, showing mercy, and doing justice are time-tested ways in which people have connected with God. Always and everywhere in the context of a gathered community.  These ways have given people hope, peace, and joy.  Even in the midst of great sorrow and suffering. Part of my mission is to invite others into a religious life.  In an age when people prefer private forms of spirituality over public forms of religious tradition, I continue to claim the value in religion.  (Not every form of religion, in every time and place, has added value and meaning to life.  Sometimes religions, including Christianity, have done more harm than good.)  Nevertheless, on the earth a relationship with God is contained within certain contextual means.  For Christians the container is Jesus of Nazareth and, by its mission, His church.  I can't say, however, that God is accessible only in and through the church.  Nor will I say that God is accessible only in and through a particular band or tribe of Christianity.  I will say this:  Israel's God made Himself known in Jesus of Nazareth. He was crucified, died, and was buried.  He was raised from the dead. Through Him, we can know God.  This is sufficient for me.  I believe the story of Jesus is universally good news with cosmic implications about how we understand and live life. Jesus once said, "The poor will always be with you, but you will not always have me."  He said this in response to those who criticized a woman for having poured an expensive jar of oil on Jesus' feet.  What he said has been misconstrued to mean that poverty is unsolvable.  What he meant was that money alone cannot and will not resolve poverty.  But something else can.  Compassion justice, mercy, love, forgiveness and an end to violence as a means of solving problems; when the human community operates under these rules, everyone is safe. And everyone has life.   Poverty unaddressed, avoided, and denied will fester and rot away our humanity.  When we expose it to the light of day, healing begins.  Let the healing begin.