LIVING IN POVERTY
Monday, November 18, 2013
As recorded in 3 books, Jesus
explained: For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. (Mt.26:11;
Mk.14:7; Jn.12:8)
Luke [NLT] 18:5-29 One day some
parents brought their little children to Jesus so he could touch and bless
them. But when the disciples saw this, they scolded the parents for bothering
him. 16 Then Jesus called for the children and said to the disciples, “Let the
children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those
who are like these children. 17 I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t
receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”
18 Once a religious leader asked
Jesus this question: “Good Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”19
“Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “Only God is truly good. 20 But to
answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not commit adultery.
You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. Honor
your father and mother.’”21 The man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments
since I was young.”22 When Jesus heard his answer, he said, “There is still one
thing you haven’t done. Sell all your possessions and give the money to the
poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”23 But when
the man heard this he became very sad, for he was very rich.
24 When Jesus saw this, he said,
“How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God! 25 In fact, it is
easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to
enter the Kingdom of God!”26 Those who heard this said, “Then who in the world
can be saved?”27 He replied, “What is impossible for people is possible with
God.”28 Peter said, “We’ve left our homes to follow you.”29 “Yes,” Jesus
replied, “and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or wife or
brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the Kingdom of God, 30 will be
repaid many times over in this life, and will have eternal life in the world to
come.”
I’ve known poor
people since being a small child. Mom’s mother, a widow, my Grandmother McGee,
and her brother, my Uncle Jim McGee, thrice wounded shell-shocked WWI veteran, lived
with us from before I was born until they died.
Along the railroad
tracks we young boys walked to our swimming and frog-gigging fish-seining snake-killing
swampy location was lined with shanties. I remember when a freight train was
heard a-coming we would cease and sit on the bank to watch the stoker roll
large chunks of coal off the tender for the shanty people. As the train kept
rolling the lumps would burst apart as they hit the edge of the railroad bed.
The people would scramble picking up the cooking and heating fuel.
Across from our
home was a large old plantation where “table crops” were grown. In the run down
main house and dirt floored slave shacks “colored folks” lived. The women
worked as underpaid cooks and housemaids plus other menial employment. The men,
most of them day laborers, dug ditches, septic systems, wells, and whatever
else manual labor they could find. When the fields of vegetables ripened the
children of all ages helped with the harvesting.
I’ve seen many
poor since then.
We never thought
of ourselves as poor until with our 3 small children in tow Ann and I were house hunting. The realtor
showed us a nice place priced far above our pre-decided budget. When we told
him this he cheerfully explained, “No problem at all. With your income for
family of 5 you qualify for Johnson money!"
Every time after
that event I checked the government standard for poverty . . . I’ve discovered
we are poor or living in borderline poverty.
But being
actually or by political say-so poor is not the biggest life and death problem,
is it? EBB4
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