Poverty – Thomas Merton

Some food for thought… Thomas Merton invites us to consider life beyond ourselves… to consider the lives of the invisible whom society chooses to ignore.

It is easy enough to tell the poor to accept their poverty as God’s will when you yourself have warm clothes and plenty of food and medical care and a roof over your head and no worry about the rent. But if you want them to believe you–try to share some of their poverty and see if you can accept it as God’s will yourself! — Seeds of Contemplation

I need to remember this and look beyond myself. I would also suggest that those in power at the local, state, and national levels of government look beyond themselves and actually see their neighbors.