The poverty of hope
I've been thinking a lot about what it means to love one's neighbor as myself. I've been hearing Aaron talk to us about not merely doing ministry to the poor and with the poor, but we do ministry as the poor. As we seek to love people in the ways God has commanded us to, we do it fully recognizing that we do it out of poverty because the only thing we have to truly offer someone is Jesus. Nothing else that I possess will do one ounce of good except Jesus. Nothing I have is worth anything without Him. I've also been reading Thomas Merton's No Man is an Island. So when I came across this quote by Merton I was especially intrigued:
This idea of living in the already-not yet (thank you, Dr. Dongell) brings up so many emotions in me. As Christians we hope for Christ fully revealed in me, in others, and in the world. But it's not there yet. There are so many mysteries and so many questions. God is truly an enigma although we trust in His revelation in the world.
When I think about loving my neighbors who live in poverty, I sometimes don't know what to do with myself. I end up feeling guilty when the neighbor kids come over to our nicely decorated and well air-conditioned home with amenities such as wireless internet because I know that their living conditions are not the same. I fear what their parents would think if they came in. They would immediately notice that I have never lived in the same kind of want as they have. It would be plainly obvious (if it's not already) that I cannot relate to the economic struggle to survive. It's not that we are living the high life or anything, but it's obvious that we have all of our basic comforts and more covered. This train of thought takes me to a place where I ask questions like, "How can I relate to them where they are?" and "How can I befriend them without it appearing to be a charity case?"
Because we hope for things unseen, we are in poverty. We as Christians know what it means to live in desire of something...we know what it feels like to have the very things we grasp for just out of reach...we all have the same fundamental poverty. And although we live in this kind of poverty, we are also full of the richness of God's promise if we hope for Him. When you have this kind of basic need in common, the economic differences don't seem quite as big of a deal anymore. Now I'm not saying this gives us a chance to throw pity parties for ourselves or say that our lives are just as hard as those who may be living in financial need. It's also not an excuse for us to avoid helping our neighbors to get financial and material needs met. Rather, I feel that doing ministry out of our own poverty allows us the opportunity to connect in a genuine and real way with our neighbors. It reminds us that we all have the same desperate need for the hope that Jesus gives. It allows us to receive Jesus in others just as we seek to give Jesus to others. It reminds us of our own dependence on Jesus and it strips us of any kind of narcissistic need we have to save other people so we can feel special or "righteous." And I would venture to say that the people we come into contact with and develop relationships for Christ with can notice the difference in the mindset.
Supernatural hope is the virtue that strips us of all things in order to give us possession of all things. We do not hope for what we have. Therefore, to live in hope is to live in poverty, having nothing. And yet, if we abandon ourselves to the economy of Divine Providence, we have everything we hope for. By faith we know God without seeing Him. By hope we possess God without feeling His presence. If we hope in God, by hope we already possess Him, since hope is a confidence which He creates in our souls as secret evidence that He has taken possession of us. So the soul that hopes in God already belongs to Him and to belong to Him is the same as to possess Him, since He gives Himself completely to those who give themselves to Him. The only thing faith and hope do not give us is a clear vision of Him Whom we possess. We are united to Him in darkness, because we have to hope.
This idea of living in the already-not yet (thank you, Dr. Dongell) brings up so many emotions in me. As Christians we hope for Christ fully revealed in me, in others, and in the world. But it's not there yet. There are so many mysteries and so many questions. God is truly an enigma although we trust in His revelation in the world.
When I think about loving my neighbors who live in poverty, I sometimes don't know what to do with myself. I end up feeling guilty when the neighbor kids come over to our nicely decorated and well air-conditioned home with amenities such as wireless internet because I know that their living conditions are not the same. I fear what their parents would think if they came in. They would immediately notice that I have never lived in the same kind of want as they have. It would be plainly obvious (if it's not already) that I cannot relate to the economic struggle to survive. It's not that we are living the high life or anything, but it's obvious that we have all of our basic comforts and more covered. This train of thought takes me to a place where I ask questions like, "How can I relate to them where they are?" and "How can I befriend them without it appearing to be a charity case?"
Because we hope for things unseen, we are in poverty. We as Christians know what it means to live in desire of something...we know what it feels like to have the very things we grasp for just out of reach...we all have the same fundamental poverty. And although we live in this kind of poverty, we are also full of the richness of God's promise if we hope for Him. When you have this kind of basic need in common, the economic differences don't seem quite as big of a deal anymore. Now I'm not saying this gives us a chance to throw pity parties for ourselves or say that our lives are just as hard as those who may be living in financial need. It's also not an excuse for us to avoid helping our neighbors to get financial and material needs met. Rather, I feel that doing ministry out of our own poverty allows us the opportunity to connect in a genuine and real way with our neighbors. It reminds us that we all have the same desperate need for the hope that Jesus gives. It allows us to receive Jesus in others just as we seek to give Jesus to others. It reminds us of our own dependence on Jesus and it strips us of any kind of narcissistic need we have to save other people so we can feel special or "righteous." And I would venture to say that the people we come into contact with and develop relationships for Christ with can notice the difference in the mindset.
posted by Jackie | 3:01 AM
1 Comments:
I really like that you name dropped Dongell
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