At lunch one day with a couple who were long-time friends,
they were full of stories about a vacation trip they had just taken. It
was a cruise to a distant part of the world, which included stops at numerous
ports I had always wanted to visit. When I left them, I was excited about
taking that cruise myself ---- that would be an ideal vacation adventure!
I looked on the internet for similar cruise opportunities,
and importantly to answer the question "What would it cost?"
After an hour or two of thorough searching, I had found several cruise
alternatives, but they were pricey!! To be honest, they were beyond my
budget ---- way beyond! What a disappointing discovery. I guess I was too
"poor" to enjoy the cruise life that my friends had raved about.
Recently, I read a magazine article about the World
Bank. You will remember that at the end of World War II, the Bank was
remarkably successful in financing the rebuilding of war-torn Europe. The
report I was reading said the modern-day mission of the Bank is to assist
low-income countries around the world, which means attempting to eliminate or
reduce their poverty.
Interestingly, they had found that people in the relatively
developed economies (that is, the financial donors to the Bank) usually describe
"poverty" differently than do the poor in the low-income countries
they intend to help. While the poor people of less-developed countries
mention having a lack of material things, they tend to emphasize
their condition in far more psychological and social terms compared to the
people in donor countries. The people in poverty in less-developed
countries typically talked in terms of shame, inferiority, powerlessness,
humiliation. fear, hopelessness, depression, social isolation, and
voicelessness.
On the other hand, the leaders in developed countries tend
to see "poverty" as a lack of material things such as food, clean
water, medicine, housing, etc., when they talked about "the poor".
Somehow we must embrace both perceptions of
"poverty" if we aim to change anything for the better. If, in
working with poor people, we treat only the symptoms, or if we mis-diagnose the
underlying problem, we will not improve their situation, and we might actually
make their lives worse.
While the World Bank's focus today is on less-developed countries,
we should not forget that we have poverty in the U.S. and in other developed
countries. So, we don't need to go to foreign less-developed countries to
experience and appreciate the psychological and social dimensions of
poverty. It is nearby, if we look for it. For example, last summer
CPC conducted a week-long mission trip to an economically depressed area of
Maryland, to live with and do light construction work amidst an impoverished
community. This close working relationship with the "poor"
helped the mission team members break through the stereotypes many of us have
of the "poor", and better understand the psychological and social
side of poverty.
There are many such examples of how churches and other
groups have acquired a sense of the psychological and social aspects of
poverty, for a more well-rounded understanding of poverty's challenge.
They now see that there is more to it than just sending money. They have
acquired a better understanding of the people they are trying to help.
The lesson for me is that my "poverty" is actually
quite unlike the type of poverty we have just been talking about. For my
comfortable life style, it is required only that I be prudent when choosing my
options for how I use my greater material resources ---- choices that the
desperately poor are not afforded. For me there is merely disappointment
when I cannot keep up with my wealthier friends, but no feelings of shame,
inferiority, fear, powerlessness, humiliation, hopelessness, depression, social
isolation or voicelessness. I have to put my "poverty" in
perspective. I must remember that while I sometimes may think I am
"poor," my situation will not, and should not, support an application
to the World Bank for a loan.
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These thoughts are brought to you by the CPC Adult
Spiritual Development Team, hoping they will encourage your spiritual growth
this fall.
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