How can we embrace poverty as way to God when everyone around us wants to become rich? We have to ask ourselves: "What is my poverty?" Is it lack of money, lack of emotional stability, lack of a loving partner, lack of security, lack of safety, lack of self-confidence? Each human being has a place of poverty. That's the place where God wants to dwell! Blessing is hidden in our poverty. - H. Nouwen
Got this from the Facebook Page of my friend Pastor Jenny (actual real-life friend and not just a good blog I read).
What I want to follow it with is this....
Poverty is not just a metaphor. It is not just symbolic. Yes we can be poor in spirit and poor in security. That's true.
But, I think the heart of the Gospel gets at the fact that some persons in our world are just economically, real world, not symbolically, actually POOR.
John Domonic Crossnan points out that the word used by the Evangelists perhaps is best translated into modern English as "penniless."
Not just garden-variety, run of the mill, never-get-ahead poverty.
Penniless.
Cool point