Poverty in the Land of Riches...

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I don't see it on a regular basis. In fact, I really don't see it at all. I live amongst the rich. I suppose I am rich. Poverty often seems like something far removed from my everyday interactions.

When I was working in downtown Vancouver with street youth, I spent time with the poor - poverty was easily seen and nearly impossible to ignore. Now, I live and work in the land of riches and don't see it. Yet how is it that I seem to hear complaints about money on such a regular basis? ...and from those who have money?

The statistics are really incomprehensible to people like me. One in seven Americans lives below the poverty line. With a population of over 310milion, that's more people living in poverty than the whole population of Canada. I've heard it said that America is really comprised of two countries: one a first-world and one a third-world. For the richest country in the world to have so many people living in such conditions is difficult to reconcile.

Lest we North of ther 49th parallel think we are much different, let us remember the impoverished state of many of our aboriginal communities. I hear stories about what some people in these communities are going through and I can't even imagine what it must be like. Let us recognize those in our own cities, perhaps even in our own neighbourhoods, who struggle each day to make ends meet.

I am rich. I have a fridge and cupboards full of food. I have a roof over my head. I wake up every morning in a warm bed in a heated home. My wife and I have steady jobs with enough income to pay all our bills, put some aside for savings, and still go out with friends once in a while. I am rich.

Lord, let me never forget to recognize the riches I have; let me never forget to give you thanks for them; let me never forget to share what has been given me with those in need.

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