In His Integrity

What’s left?

Proverbs 19:1

Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity, than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.

 “Blessed are the poor…” yes, yes, I know, but I’d like to be rich – who wouldn’t?  To live in a beautiful house surrounded by comfort and conveniences and beautiful things, to not have to worry about how I’m going to pay the bills that pile up in front of me, to have nice clothes and cars and delicious foods and to be able to travel wherever I would like or give financial assistance and material help to worthy people in need whenever I am moved to do so – who wouldn’t want to do that?  When we think of all the things that money can buy, we think in our minds – and even in our hearts – “Blessed are the rich.”

The stories that we hear about lottery winners always fascinate me.  They win huge sums of money by luck and buy all the things that they’ve always wanted to have – and they admit that they aren’t happier.  Some spend and live richly while still wisely saving and investing enough money so that they will never have to worry about blowing it all – and they say they were happier before they became rich.  Friends and family members become jealous and manipulative, trying to get some of that financial boon for themselves.  People everywhere seek them out with tales of woe in hopes of getting charitable contributions.  And some, in resentment and also in greed, will make the lottery winners feel guilty if not enough of the winnings are spent upon things that they, the non-winners, believe are important.  And then there’s all the stuff – so many things to buy, experiences to purchase, and no extra time in which to enjoy them, no extra heart-space in which to appreciate them.  And the stuff has to be taken care of – or the employees hired to take care of the stuff have to be taken care of – it’s a lot of work.  Some lottery winners become depressed, some commit suicide.  And even the rich who earn their money never seem to be able to get enough of it, are always wanting more.  Rich celebrities live glamorous lives – lives of broken relationships, drug abuse, waywardness.  But, still… Knowing all this, I would still like to be rich.  I would be one of those few who can handle it, who can do wealthy well.  Wouldn’t I?

I don’t know.  How am I doing with not being wealthy?  Am I doing middle-class well?  Actually, my parents are middle-class – but they physically take care of me in their home because of my severe disability.  I, financially speaking, am poor.  In fact, it is rightly said that I am a beggar since I can do no labor, no work inside or outside of the home, to earn my bread.  I depend completely upon others for all of my needs for survival.  So, to go back to my question – am I doing that well?  I think I could handle wealth – but that would only be true if I can handle poverty.

Jesus did not say “Blessed are the financially destitute.”  He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  I imagine that “poor in spirit” has been interpreted to mean different things over the centuries through different schools of thought.  But, the point I want to make here is that poverty itself – the deprivation of material resources, of those basic needs of survival – is not blessedness.  Merely being poor is not going to make one blessed, is not going to make one happy.  There are many, many people who do poverty badly.  Broken relationships, drug abuse, and suicide affect the poor as well as the rich.  (Perhaps, though, we may think it affects the poor more because there are more poor people than rich.)  The truth is that selfishness, greed, and unhappiness abound in humanity, no matter how much, or how little, money is ready at hand.  If, however, one is “poor in spirit” – well, then, one belongs to the kingdom of heaven.  What does that mean?

To be poor in spirit is not to have some kind of solidarity with the poor, that is, feeling deep compassion for them in their plight and helping them however one can by donating time and/or resources.  The blessedness, the happiness, comes in truly being poor – in being a beggar.  For, what do we have that is truly our own?  You can be robbed of possessions.  Your house can burn down and your insurance company go bankrupt.  You can lose your savings through disastrous investments.  You can lose your job or lose your breadwinning spouse and get evicted or have your house foreclosed upon, watch your car get repossessed and sell off your jewelry, your collectibles, your furniture, until you have nothing left.  Even that body which you use to earn money and go to the store and enjoy leisurely comfort – even that can lose its functionality through injury or disease.  That mind that you use to make sure you have all that you need and with which you appreciate what you have – even that can lose its abilities of cognition and/or memory.  And then what is left?  All that is left is what has always been, what is eternally: your belongingness to the kingdom of heaven.

Whether rich or poor, if we live our lives separated from our true identities, we will never be truly happy.  We were all created by the Uncreated Creator.  We all belong to this Infinite/Eternal One.  Your true identity, my true identity, is as a living image and likeness of God.  But, is that how we live?  Or, do we rather live as our own inventions for our own purposes?  I’m not talking about altruism here.  I’m talking about knowing who you are.  You could be blessed by living your life “looking out for number one” and understanding that that most important one is yourself – but do you know who you are?  If you think that you are your physical pleasures and enjoyments, then you are always going to miss the mark of blessedness.  If you think that you are your accomplishments and achievements, then you will never be fulfilled.  If you think that you are the praising people around you, then you will never know true love, true happiness.  If you think that you are the weight of your possessions, monuments, and money enjoyed now and left behind as legacy when you are dead, then you are most sadly missing out on the fullness of your one, unique life.

The Uncaused Cause has given you an immortal soul to animate your being – and has given you Godself to restore you to true likeness so that you may know blessedness and know it eternally.  Who you truly are is who you are eternally.  When passing things pass away, what is left?  What has always been and always will be: a beggar.  May our begging bowls be open and outstretched toward the Source of Being, the Infinitely Generous One Who truly gives us our fill.

Whether rich or poor, I can be a fool.  Better to have no material pleasures to distract me from knowing who I am, then to go about my life as a fool in perversity.  May we not choose to live our lives perversely, obstinately desiring to do what is unreasonable – and what is unreasonable is all that is is contrary to who we truly are. 

Christina Chase