When we cross paths with the poor, how do we react? Often we are too busy with our daily preoccupations to even bother to react. But the good in us also always can't help but feel an initial sense of sympathy, that can be followed by either a shrugging of our shoulders or an instinctive impulse to help. Take your pick, and depending on your mood, you can do anything when you happen to cross paths with the poor.
Some people shrug their shoulders and move on, saying to themselves: "That's the way it is in this world." Some shrug their shoulders, too, but offer a silent prayer or blessing for the poor person they meet. Some shrug their shoulders as well, and pray to God to uplift, if only for a day, the condition of the person in poverty. Some shrug their shoulders and console themselves, saying, "If I am rich, I could help you, but as it is now, I am only slightly better off than you, so...."
But poverty is relative. Who is the true poor in these cases? Many passages in the Bible, and even the Beatitudes reveal that the poor are God's favorite people and He blesses them more than others. The poor need Him, while the "rich" ignore Him most of the time. The poor cling to Him, and their hopes are pinned only to the omnipotent God's mercy, while the "rich" are often blinded by worldly affairs.
So which is better -- being poor in material possession, or poor in God's love? To walk the streets well-heeled but loved by the world, or unshod yet loved by God? Take your pick!
Short Prayer:
Lord, let me never lose Your love. Let me be poor in all things but rich in Your mercy. Let me lack in worldly possessions but be filled daily with Your Presence. Amen.
