what SHOULD we do?

"It is much more comfortable to depersonalize the poor so we don't feel responsible for the catastrophic human failure that results in someone sleeping on the street while people have spare bedrooms in their homes." - Shane Claiborne

Poverty has been on my mind so much these days. I'm still haunted by the faces of beggars I encountered when I was in Burma this summer. And it's always been a challenge (and gets harder everyday) to walk by people who sleep on the streets - whether or not I have anything to offer them.

Poverty certainly looks a lot different here in the United States - and specifically Philly, where I am - but it nevertheless hurts something very deep in me. I've always known that I have a strong sense of justice - what's fair and what's incredibly wrong in our world - but I think the issue of poverty in our society as one of the more obvious results of capitalism that drives forward our economy makes me the most angry.

Since I've been here in Philly, I've been rereading "The Irresistible Revolution", so as to keep fresh some of the convictions and commitments I made after I read it the first time last year. Shane's quote above makes me so uncomfortable. Not only is it true, not only is it a painful reminder of the growing gap between rich and poor people and my own privilege, but it is a direct challenge to our - to my - pathetic response, as a Christian, to this "catastrophic human failure". What are we doing? Really. And what are we supposed to do?

Perhaps it's so upsetting to me because all of the answers Jesus gives in the gospels don't really fit into the mold of what's "culturally appropriate" or what is considered "socially acceptable". (then again, did i expect them to? notsomuch) When he gives us a whole lot of talk on honoring other people above ourselves, loving our neighbors as ourselves, sharing with people in need, and practicing hospitality, just to name a few, I'm pretty he's serious. Those are examples of literal, practical ways to bridge the gap in the little ways, off the books, regardless of the policies/structures that perpetuate these injustices.

Even as I write these things and spend lots of time late at night thinking about what can be done - what can I do? - I get so frustrated for not having answers, for settling for apathy, and ignoring the clear teachings of Jesus.

I don't have answers. I never did. But something that's evident, that's always been true, transformative, and the source of all things good, is the love of Jesus. It always boils down to love, not the sappy, pithy kind of love that people feel or experience - concrete, substantial love that can't/won't be twisted into something that insulates, devastates, or destroys. Love. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind. It doesn't envy or boast. It's not proud, rude, self-seeking, or easily angered. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres: Love never fails. Love never fails. Love never fails. It doesn't. Because God is.....and He doesn't.

What would happen if we believed this, if we risked our lives for this? What would happen if we moved beyond charity and the conscience-appeasing, "feel-good" acts that insulate us from reality and extended ourselves, putting our vulnerablity, our humanity, on display for the world to see? What would that look like? I wonder a lot.

"When we truly discover love, capitalism will not be possible and Marxism will not be necessary." Interesting idea, Will O'Brien.