Recently, I broke down and cleaned out my office, including all my "piles" of stuff set aside to read, use and/or file. Every time I engage in this purging process I find treasure and trash!
Much of what I uncover makes me wonder why I ever set it aside.
But, I always find jewels that make me sorry they got lost in my clutter.
Here are words that ended up in one of my journals--
I ran across the darnest quote today. . .it was in Barbara Ehrenreich's recent study (2001) of life for people "living" on minimum wage or slightly above, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America--she describes a tent revival (populated by very poor working people who were impoverished) that she attended in Maine while working for minimum wage as a part of her year-long study of real life in the good old USA among working people:
"The preaching goes on, interrupted with dutiful 'amens.' It would be nice if someone would read this sad-eyed crowd the Sermon on the Mount, accompanied by a rousing commentary on income inequality and the need for a hike in the minimum wage. But Jesus makes his appearance here only as a corpse; the living man, the wine-guzzling vagrant and precocious socialist, is never once mentioned, nor anything he ever had to say. Christ crucified rules, and it may be that the true business of modern Christianity is to crucify him again and again so that he can never get a word out of his mouth (emphasis with underlining mine here--as an ex-preacher, this may be one of the most indicting things I have read about the church in many years--lmj) . . . .I get up to leave, timing my exit for when the preacher's metronomic head movements have him looking the other way, and walked out to search for my car, half expecting to find Jesus out there in the dark, gagged and tethered to a tent pole." (pages 68-69)
Reflecting now on that passage from my long, lost journal, it occurs to me that only someone who understood the cruel realities of poverty could write like that.
9 comments:
it seems Ehrenreich (and by proxy those whose life she imitated during her research) understands and articulates the state of our incarnate God far better than those of us who live comfortably beyond the borders of the working class. once again, the up-side-down wisdom of the Gospel is made evident.
This may come as a shock but most people who live comfortably have or do work very hard.
Chris, this is true. However, most of us who live comfortably started at a very different place from those who live in poverty. Like the 20-mile marker in the 26-mile marathon, as has been said.
This is not to take away from personal responsibility. My dad, for example, was a true self-made man, and I believe he would have made it in any circumstances. He arose from extreme poverty on a farm in West Virginia, went to Officer's Candidate School in the Army, and went on from the service in World War II to be a very successful businessman. He was an absolute gem of a human being: kind and compassionate to every one. But what he was 'given' was a tremendous work ethic learned from his family and excellent genetics, including intelligence.
There are many kinds of poverty. I am not trying to indict you, because we all do it, but judging other people is one of them.
I guess it doesn't silence everyone. Thanks, Chris, for once again making sure the rich and those who live comfortably are not overlooked in their daily struggles. Maybe someday they'll get some recognition, benefit, or help from the government and the church and society. Golly gee that'll be the day. Oh wait, it's every day.
Chris, see my comment from yesterday re: Larry's statement, "Frankly, many of us middleclass types just don't get it." Any time you'd like to meet me at the Day Resource Center on a Friday night and meet some of Dallas' homeless citizens, I'd be happy to meet you and introduce you around. Let me know.
Most people don't question that people in the middle class work hard. At the end of the day, though, they do have a roof, food, health care and multiple life-choices. There is a question in the minds of some, however, about how hard the poor work. And a large percentage of those in poverty are the working poor. Jesus understood that, because of greed, prejudice, and injustice (all symptoms of an "agape-less" society), the poor would "always be with us", even those who work two jobs. Many religious people are guilty of offering vacant words in place of dignity and real support.
What an indictment of westernized Christianity.
Chris ... I'm just baffled ... what in Larry's blog entry even makes your comment relevant? Do you just feel duty bound to stick up for the rich and privileged, even when no one has said a word against them?
Many people who live in poverty work very hard also. You just don't hear their stories as often.
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