Poverty

I was glad to hear that a few copies of Living Poor With Style, published in the 1970s and long out of print, are still available here and there on line. With all the talk about the terrible economy, etc., etc., I have to believe that most of us do not really know what poverty is, and that even those who are truly poor do not know how to cope with any grace or cheer. On the BBC news, there are videos from various parts of the world where people are really poor. Many of them are beyond caring, but others still find ways to keep clean, to make the most of what they have, to wear scraps of bright color.

Poverty itself has lessons, something monastic orders have known for centuries. Some kinds of privation simply force one to think of higher things. If you do not have a place to live or anything to eat, if you are in danger from war and afraid for your children, then you are truly poor. But most people in this country who think they are poor are not dodging bombs. They have running water, even hot running water, a car, access to meals and social services.

Some of us are really fortunate and have the luxury of family, friends, peace, sound roofs, good plumbing, a small steady income, reasonably good health and a measure of self-sufficiency. Maybe we all need to think of a survival baseline and be extremely grateful for whatever we have above and beyond that point.