I am the poor

This morning I began Chris Heuertz's book. (He is the director of WordMadeFlesh, an org. that serves the world's most vulnerable poor - the group I have the priviledge of being a part of this spring in Nepal.)

I was expecting "nothing new" to be honest. When I skimmed the content page I figured it was going to be a nice re-cap of other books I've already read. But I have to admit that one chapter in, I was hooked with big tears rolling down my cheeks.

Chris recounted stories of suffering in Calcutta, India when he helped one of Mother Theresa's homes for the dying. As he described the pain he saw, it automatically touched the deepest places of my heart - triggering images I witnessed from gutters around the world. Heuertz reminded me that we are all, in essence, the poor. Regardless of what sort of car we drive or if we have an iphone; we are all poor. Because all human beings are hungry for the presence of the loving God who created them - and apart from His love we are reduced to begging. Its like the poor I interacted with every day in Cambodia, they extended their palms, gesturing toward their bellies and open mouths - crying out to be fed. So also do I walk around with my palms out asking for love, purpose, and affirmation unless I run into the loving Presence that made me. And this simple identification between me & the poor - is so clear. And even clearer is the fact that if I truly know Jesus and love Him, I will then love others with the same love, which is why I want to serve the poor around me and in Nepal. Jesus affiliated Himself with the poor in Matthew, "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

I am eager to learn from the poor. I am eager for my contemplative ways to be tempered with "active" prayer, actions of love and service. I am aching that more and more I would get out of the prayer room and be the prayer among the vulnerable...