On Poverty: Our Daily Bread

Any personal indifference towards the poor will be eradicated upon entering Sierra Leone. You will notice the poor. You cannot roll up your window, you cannot change the channel. You cannot rationalize away that they will spend money on booze when you see mothers holding children with bloated bellies. When taken from the perspective of how God must see all this, you want to weep. We could debate for hours about whether the efforts of Western countries are truly helping or only hurting developing nations, but economics is not my focus here.

While material destitution must be combated for its dehumanizing nature, there is a positive element to material poverty. Material poverty points us towards the higher truth that this world is passing—it keeps our egos in check. The rich young man in Mark’s Gospel was too attached to his wealth to receive the love that Jesus offered him. Money can hold us hostage. St. Thomas Aquinas affirmed that Christ “endured material poverty in order to give us spiritual riches.” He came poor so that we would wake up. Other riches exist.

From the perspective of a seminarian with a meager income (but whose basic living needs are met in abundance), I believe that, more than I could ever do for the poor, I am here in Africa primarily to be poor. Rather than fall into despair that I cannot help this family or that beggar, I am here to be poor materially and spiritually. The dependence upon God here is so very evident by the everyday faith of the people. We pray for “our daily bread,” and that is the reality here. Because there is no electricity during the daytime hours (and only for a few hours at night if the generators work), refrigerators are used for storage. It’s so hot here that refrigerators actually work backwards and tend to keep their contents super-warm, spoiling fruit within a day.

The point here is that you cannot store food for any length over a day—you cannot store up or bury your riches here. There are no pantries packed with snacks or cold storage space to keep food fresh for a week or two. The people here literally live day-to-day with such dependence on their God and their wits to be fed. We Christians do not ask for our “weekly bread” or “bread for the next 2 years,” but what we need for this day. It is a challenge and is quite radical for me. I have gone to bed hungry more than a few times since I arrived, but I offer it up as best as I can, trusting in a Father who has brought me this far and will provide me with what I need for the next day.

Other riches exist.

-Bob
written 06/15/11