Blessed are the poor

" The poor man

is not disgraced by poverty

For mankind attains ... glory from penury.

Gold and silver are the glory of the rich,

But the poor have inward repose. "

                                           Shaykh Sa'adi Shirazi

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It is interesting how the well off in America

Love to shame the poor

Moochers, Lazy, Stupid, Unmotivated,

There seems to be no end of labels that can be applied

No end to the strategies that can be used

To minimize, diminish, even oppress the vulnerable

Why do we feel the need to do it?

It is simply a matter of creating a “pecking order”,

pushing others down so we can feel bigger and stronger?

It is a way to assuage our guilt, for our own affluence,

Or for our role in creating the dynamics that make others poor?

How else does a CEO who makes multiple millions a year

Justify failing to pay a living wage to the worker he/she relies upon?

We have always had a complex relationship with wealth

I like having money, and the things money can buy

I am certainly not poor, although I have had moments when I was close

But even then I had a safety net, and never believed I would be without a home, without food

But for so many that is not the reality

They work, they struggle

The scrounge for food and clothing

They do everything they can

But the wages are too lower

The opportunities, even though they look for them, are too few

Many of them have been at a disadvantage since they will children

Poor diets, families that did not prize education, no resources to pay for and education

Surrounded by violence, legal issues, and so many other adversities

We cleverly call them Adverse Childhood Events

But they are real, and basic

And if you experience them you are at risk

For cancer, obesity, failure in school, encounters with the law,

The children of poverty grow into poverty

Not because they are lazy

Not because they or their parents are stupid, or have grown up in a culture of dependence

But because they started from a place from which

In America

Yes, in America

There was little chance of recovery

This is the great American failure

The great American sin!

We not only do not have justice

We do not have the kind of equity that allows people to succeed

We had it once

But the rich have taken control

And so that they might stay rich, and get richer

They have made chosen to use and oppress the poor

And neglect the vulnerable

All for a few dollars more

That they don’t need

But here is the joke!

Jesus understood it!

“Blessed are the poor”

Even the poor can have, and often do have,

Rich souls

And the rich?

“It is harder for a rich man to enter the Kingdom (a place where they valued and celebrate justice and equity) than it is for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle

Perhaps

We need to rethink things?