WALKING THE LINE
It is very easy to talk about the neighborhood we visited in statistical terms.
- 50,000 people served by one church
- Average income one dollar a day
- 2500 fed in soup kitchens each day
- Weekly collection at mass $80
- average drop out age
- percent of kids who use drugs
- Number of people who don’t have medicine they need
When speaking in these terms it doesn’t do justice to the people we met.
There was joy. There was happiness. There was deep faith. There was active participation in mass. There were hugs and kisses on the cheek. There was a warm smile at every turn.
But just as easy as it is get caught up in negative stats, it is just as easy to get caught up in the joy we did experience. It is easy to fall into the trap of, “Oh they are the happy poor. They may be materially poor, but they are so spiritually rich. They are blessed to have this burden because it has made them so close to God.”
The picture is so much more complicated than either of those points of view. There is lots of suffering, but there is also lots of getting over suffering. Some do respond well the situation they are in, but it is an unjust situation that deserves to be changed.
The question then comes, how do we walk that line? How do we meet others where they are? How do we do this by providing help and love, with out coming in to fix? How can we approach others knowing they have something to teach and share with us?