Poverty is not something that most people living above the
poverty line want to think about. It certainly is not something that the middle
and upper class aim for as a goal in their personal plans and financial
portfolios.
It is easy to look at those living below the line and espouse
the notion that all they have to do is do something with themselves to climb up
and out of poverty. Some, a rare few, manage to make a social status move but
they are exceptions. The truth of the matter is that overcoming poverty is not
as easy as simply applying that notion. A lot of social and economic factors
build the steep and slippery sides of poverty that are not easily scaled.
It is also easy to close our eyes to the reality of poverty,
pretend it does not exist, and ignore it altogether.
Here, in the United States, over forty million people live
below the poverty line and, with some exceptions, qualify for aid from
assistance programs. Another ninety-five million live just above the poverty
line where that “just above” disqualifies them for aid through assistance
programs even though making ends meet is more than a challenge. The hard
reality is that those living in poverty, and those living barely above poverty,
make up one-third of the population of this country. The row is a hard and long
one to hoe for the one-third down at the bottom of the social class pile.
Circumstantial poverty
is an unavoidable reality even here in the richest nation in the world. There
are a lot of poor people. Some are able to manage their social class status better
than others, while others choose personal behavior patterns that sadly
complicate the hardship conditions already imposed by poverty.
The global poverty statistics are not only eye-opening but
honestly heartbreaking. It is hard to starve to death in this country. The same
is not true in numerous countries around the world where, despite all the
wealth in the world, thousands are literally starving to death … some dying
from starvation in the length of time it has taken to keystroke the few words
in this one paragraph. Just short of 600 million … roughly two times the
population of the United States … abjectly impoverished human beings live (if
you can call it living) in dire conditions on less than two dollars a day.
I cannot help but to think of what Jesus said about poverty
when his disciples confronted him over what they perceived as wastefulness when
a woman anointed his feet with the contents of a jar of expensive ointment. “For you always have the poor with you.”[1]
The poor are with us. Some of us are the poor. Some of us, daily, are
becoming the circumstantial poor.
I remind myself that poverty is not a communicable disease
transmitted by mosquitoes or human contact. Poverty is a social condition – an
unavoidable social condition for multiplied millions of human beings.
I never gave much thought to the personal realities
associated with circumstantial poverty during most of my working life. The
realities began to press upon me when I started considering the shape that life
would take once I reached “retirement” age. How would I (not just me, but
Shirli and I as a married couple) live once age and a small fixed income became
the determining factors that hemmed us in. It was obvious that we could not
keep physically and emotionally pushing and punishing ourselves to maintain a
delusional “appearance” of some level of middle class living that was nothing
more than an illusion of success.
Confronting the looming reality head-on set me up for a
head-on collision with pride related issues within my own self-complex. Pride
is a tough piece of meat to chew. The more you chew it, the bigger it gets. The
bigger it gets, the harder it is to swallow. Even after finally initially
getting it down, situations come along that cause it to be regurgitated and the
chewing/swallowing process starts again. What a mess I am when it comes to this
first named culprit on the list of capital sins.
Chosen poverty is
another matter altogether. Chosen poverty is willingly and willfully giving up
the right to accumulate and possess material things.
Benedictine monks and religious sisters profess vows of obedience,
stability, and conversion of life. Other monastic traditions profess vows to
the Evangelical Councils of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Although not
specifically named in the Benedictine vows, poverty and chastity are inherent
in and an important part of Benedictine monastic life. The Evangelical Councils
are intended to remove anything that is incompatible with charity. They
manifest the living fullness of charity, which is never satisfied with not
giving more.[2]
How does the Council of poverty apply to Oblate life outside
the monastery?
“Although the concrete practices of the Rule may, in many
cases, no longer apply to today's monk or Oblate, the values expressed in the
particulars of sixth-century Benedictine life are of critical value today. Hospitality, reverence for God's creation,
balance in daily life, patient allowance for human limitations, prayerfulness
in all activities, the sacredness of the meal, the need for good order, and
the struggle against greed, for example, are no less essential for
21st-century Christian life than for monastic life in St. Benedict's time.”[3]
“Although many practical details of the Rule may seem harsh
to the modern reader, they embodied a spirit of great moderation in St.
Benedict's day. In fact, St. Benedict
has been known as a master of moderation, and the Rule has often been praised
for its promotion of sensible moderation.”[4]
The Rule of Saint Benedict, in conjunction with the Council
concerning poverty, forces me to reckon with another of the Capital Sins –
Avarice (Greed).
Avarice is the inordinate love of having possessions or
riches.
It is easy to be motivated by greed and to discover a
preoccupation with having and accumulating more than I honestly need. It is
easy to attach value to wealth and possessions. It is easy to measure our
personal value by material possessions and to use our perceived personal worth
as a measure of the worth of others. Greed comes in different forms. Some are
greedy with material things and hold on tightly to what they have. Some are
greedy with time and only do what will benefit them in some way. Some are
greedy in their relationships and go about collecting people for status or use
people for their own advantage. Greed easily hardens hearts and blinds eyes. It
has a tendency to lead people on the pathway of self-sufficiency, complacency
and independence of God.
Life has changed drastically for us now that we are retired
and living on a small fixed income.
Like so many of the other one-third, we were never able to
stack up a retirement account that would grant us any amount of livable flexibility
in our old age. I started two retirement accounts during my working life. Financial
needs required cashing them out before they had a chance to turn into anything
significant. Shirli and I, in our sixteen years of marriage, have not been
afforded the good fortune of building a retirement account for our old age. Our
small fixed income comes to us in the way of our Social Security benefits.
We anticipated the change and did some serious downsizing
that would accommodate the financial adjustment that would be necessary to
embrace living as comfortably as possible as genuinely poor senior citizens on
our small fixed income. It was not easy. A lot of emotions were involved. A lot
of attachments to things had to be broken. A whole new outlook had to be
embraced. As Shirli puts it, “We are embracing our poverty.”
The physical and emotional nature of downsizing is very
doable. It is difficult but very doable.
Ours involved a five-year plan that, twenty-eight months
ago, saw us turn the key in the lock on all that was behind us and begin all
that was (and is) ahead of us here at our tiny hermitage-like cabin where the
entire spectrum of our lives – physical, emotional, and spiritual - has been revitalized
and changed for the better. We have a lot less materially and financially. Yet,
despite having less, we appreciate and enjoy life more fully. We have the most
important things in abundant supply … family, children and grandchildren, friends,
and an especially close group of close friends that we call our Tribe. We have
faith in God and a beautiful, warm, and loving parish family that we are part
of. Our needs are met.
There is another element that has begun to emerge as a
product of having less. By downsizing our lives materially and financially, by
having to live within this narrow margin of means, we are beginning to honestly
understand the trials and difficulties faced by millions of others that are
struggling to simply survive. We are no longer looking down on those in poverty
and feeling sympathetic for their social class dilemma. We are now looking them
in the eyes and feeling with them.
[1]
Matthew 26:11
[2]
Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1973, #1974, p. 533
[3]
Oblate Formation Booklet, Saint Vincent Archabbey, Revised 2013
[4]
ibid
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