You will be amazed by what you will find on the Internet about Spiritual Poverty. Someone(s) worked very hard to give us the gift of some solid reflections on this topic.
From Rahel Kassahun, Ph. D., founder and editor-in-chief of the periodical Africa Unbound:
He and another gentleman were meeting with a large Christian organization and the topic of small groups in the church came up. One of the executives in the organization asked, "What difference do you see between groups for people with problems and groups for normal people?" Said Kassahun: "John and I looked at each other and I said, 'There is just one kind of group.' " Kassahun goes on to say in his article that "all believers probably realize that we all need to grow spiritually, but many of us do not understand that the major reason we need to grow is that we are in a deep and severe state of neediness and incompleteness. . . . By our very nature we are broken people with no hope except for God."
"Each one of us has weaknesses, unfulfilled needs, emotional injuries and hurts at the hands of others, and we have our own immaturities and sins. Spiritual poverty . . . . has to do with those parts of ourselves that are not what they should be and that we cannot repair in our own strength. Jesus called this a 'blessed condition' because it helps us get closer to God."
"We're all in the same boat," says Victor Lee Lewis, a longtime diversity advocate. "But we're not on the same deck. And the ride looks different, depending on where you're seated."
It is awareness of our spiritual poverty -- and the awakening to the realization that "there is just one kind of group" that helps us to give to others and serve others -- because each one of us on earth is poor.
FOR REFLECTION:
- What do I think of when I hear the term 'spiritual poverty"?
- What have I learned from persons I know who seem to be very in touch with their spiritual poverty?
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