Song: My Lord Did Trouble Me | Ignatian Spirituality |

Friends,

Today I offer an excerpt from by book When Did We See You? A Lenten Exploration of Poverty & Wealth, Upper Room Books 2026. While it's written for lent, it can be used for any 6 week study.

-Liz

Spiritual Poverty and Dependence On Each Other

[Spiritual Poverty] is also a matter of dependence. It includes the realization that the things we possess in the material world are not really ours. Instead, everything belongs to God. As God’s people and agents in the world, we, as a collective, oversee creation. The ideas that individuals can claim natural resources, that a business possesses land, or that we personally own homes, food, and clothing contradict core Christian concepts. The land belongs to God; we merely care for and work our share of it. Early Christians held their possessions in common. The disciples shared one purse. We may manage the resources of the world, but they remain God’s.

The practical application of this should be obvious: those with few material resources have a right to a larger share of God’s creation. When people apply for food stamps, welfare, or Medicaid, they aren’t asking for something that belongs to someone else. They’re claiming what should belong to them. They are asking to be given their share of what God provides for us all. Psalm 25:13 promises prosperity for those who fear the Lord. Relatedly, those of us with excess must recognize that withholding these resources means hanging on to something that is not ours. We are being called to help ensure the prosperity of our neighbors.

When I was in junior high, our youth group held a “starvathon” to raise money for the Heifer Project. We fasted for twenty-four hours, spending the night at the church, playing games. The next afternoon, adult volunteers served us dinner to break our fast. However, this dinner did not go as we, the students, expected. For one lucky third of our group, they brought out plates piled with rice, vegetables, and a quarter of a chicken. For another third, they handed out a simple bowl of rice, and then, for the remainder, only a glass of water. The adults serving us explained that this is roughly the breakdown of food inequality in our world.

I laughed—I was so hungry and thrilled that I got the full dinner! My sister, however, did not get the full dinner and did not see the humor in it. In the end, as good Christian teenagers, we immediately began sharing our meals. I pulled off a chicken leg and handed it to my sister, while splitting my veggies with another. Others around us did the same. At the time, I felt quite generous and pleased with my willingness to share.

But was that really generosity? Was that food even mine? What besides random chance gave me authority to decide whether my sister received a leg or a breast or nothing at all? How did I gain the role of the giver and not receiver? True humility would recognize that all the food belonged to all of us. We could have pooled everything and redistributed it equally rather than hoping and relying on the charity of each individual to share some from their plate with others who had none.

How does your church handle redistributing resources more fairly? Are you willing to accept help that you need? What is your take on dependence as part of Spiritual Poverty? Reply to this email to let me know what's happening. ​
​

A short commentary on Poverty of the Spirit from an Ignatian viewpoint.

Susan Werner describes herself as a evangelical agnostic. Her entire album The Gospel Truth is worth your time. But today I offer My Lord Did Trouble Me.

Please forward this email to others who might be interested. If you got this from someone else, use the button below to subscribe to the free Act! Be Church Now email newsletter.