Looking Poverty in the Eyes
Those who know me well know that poverty and homelessness are issues that are very close to my heart. In fact, the concept of homelessness has plagued me since I can remember; it just doesn’t make sense from a childlike perception of the world. We have all these empty houses, but people are dying on the streets. That’s what I thought when I was 7, and I still hold those values to some extent (albeit hopefully in a more sophisticated and detailed analysis). The past few months especially, I’ve felt a dissonance in my spiritual life because of my lack of action on behalf of the poor. I don’t mean that in a “look how philanthropic I am” way at all because everyone is called to different issues, but in my personal life, I truly felt like a hypocrite to say that I follow Jesus while walking by those He would have ministered to. Obviously, I’m not Jesus, so I can’t possibly carry the weight of injustice and poverty on my shoulders. Still, I felt like I was allowing privilege and apathy to sh...