Us In The West - Poor?

This devotion reflects on the experience of inner poverty living in the Western hemisphere of the globe. Starvation for unconditional acceptance, belonging, and spirituality are real mental and emotional conditions. The Christian faith responds to this inner poverty and famine.

Transcript

Us,

Poor,

Quote by Mother Teresa,

The poverty in the West is a different kind of poverty.

It is not only a poverty of loneliness,

But also of spirituality.

There's a hunger for love as there is a hunger for God.

Meditation.

Our society promises the satisfaction of all of our needs.

High-speed internet for even more information.

Unlimited food at the all-you-can-eat restaurants.

Speed dating so we don't miss Mr.

Right or Mrs.

Right.

Yet,

Many of us often feel lonely in the midst of a crowd.

We feel empty,

Even though we just ate a big meal.

We feel objectified and judged by our outer appearance.

The promises of what money can do for us don't hold,

Don't last,

And don't do the trick of convincing us that we are loved.

The thirst and hunger for unconditional acceptance is real and deep.

Our emotional and spiritual poverty is not as apparent as others' external poverty.

Yet,

We may suffer from lack of acceptance,

Lack of belonging,

And lack of love.

And many of us forget that God is not equal to religion.

God does not live in a church.

God is spirit.

God is living water and living bread.

God is the healing balm that wants to end loneliness and liberate us from all the distractions that keep us hostage and that blind us in the illusion that they are giving us what we need.

The Bible words for today is from Amos 8,

Verse 11.

The time is coming,

Says the Lord God,

When I will send a famine on the land,

Not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water,

But of hearing the words of the Lord.

I want to say a prayer.

Life-giving God,

Reveal to us our poverty.

Respond and fill our need for belonging,

For unconditional acceptance,

For true love,

And for a community that holds deeper values than society's norm of needing more stuff and consuming.

God,

Help us see and admit that we are starving for you.

Amen.