On Poverty

What is poverty?

I looked it up on Wikipedia and this is what it said:

"Poverty is the lack of basic human needs, such as clean water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter, because of the inability to afford them."

I was feeling on Friday that I am the poor person.

Sure, I can eat and sit on the computer and have clothes, but do I value the flowers when I'm walking to work? Sometimes. But most times, I'm just thinking about ME getting to work. And if someone cuts me off, I'm indignant. How could they do that to ME?

Yeah, I have a job, but do I care about other people? Sometimes. I was not feeling very Christ-like at certain times this weekend. I could blame it on New York. I could blame it on the fact that I was exhausted and we were busy.

Or I could blame it on ME.

Ethiopian women with nothing gave me their only cooking pot because I came to visit them. Another woman called my husband and I family. People in South Africa invited us in their homes. Thai people were excited to see us. The Chinese want to talk to us because we've come to see their country (and sure, they've probably never seen a white person before). So willing to give and sure, we all have our bad days and I'm sure they're not entirely Christ-like either. But I feel like, maybe, they're on a more direct course then I am.

So maybe I'm the poor one, even with my money and my apartment.