We had been linked to a parish in the mountain and were supporting their school. Then there was the earthquake which destroyed the school. The church was also damaged. So we are working with Finnaid to rebuild the school. They are rebuilding the school and we bought the land. We are now funding the teachers, furnishing the school, and providing what the school needs. It going to be much grander than what they had before. Twelve, count them, twelve classrooms and three hundred-some students. Wonderful work of our parish. I am proud of it.

Our parishioners go to Haiti with some folk from a parish in Minnesota. Twice a year they go as a medical mission. We buy drugs and supplies. This time, in three days they saw over six hundred people.

Wonderful work.

My plan after that was to take the Medical Fund check and get my insulin. First I went home to check email and phone to see if my friends had sent money yet. In my snail mail was a statement from Social Security saying I was getting Extra Help to pay for my prescriptions. My insulin was only $6.30 instead of $35.00, which was the amount of the check. I also found that some money had made it into my account before I got his with an overdraft fee. I bought the insulin myself and then returned the check to the church office. Then I went and bought some fruit and vegetables.

My friends sent the money by paypal. I hope it makes it into my account quickly so I can pay those bills. The friends did not send quite enough for the utilities. I hope the utilities will take a little less but I have negotiated to pay the bare minimum to keep them on. Also Paypal charges me a fee so that the amount received was slightly less than the amount sent.

And that’s the way it is in Poverty today.

Almighty and eternal God, so draw our hearts to you, so guide our minds, so fill our imaginations, so control our wills, that we may be wholly yours, utterly dedicated to you; and then use us, we pray, as you will, and always to your glory and the welfare of your people; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Bad week money- wise. In the past little while I have been spammed out of money. Both times it was in a job ad. Both ads asked me to give them a credit report which was free at a given web site. I went there. It was unclear. The ad asked for a number sent to them. I found a number and sent it. No reply. I asked both times if they had received it and that it was the one they wanted. Still no reply. The first time around I learned that you then had to unsubscribe. So I got charged. Which did in my finances.

The second time, I thought I would try it and cancel almost immediately. But I took a look at the three sources. The page said to go to a link to look at them. It turned out there was a charge to look. I got that reversed last week. But I had an overdraft fee from the bank. This week I got them to reverse it.
I thought I would have a little money to buy food. But before I went I logged on to the bank site to check how much I had available. My DSL source had charged their monthly fee and that put me even deeper in the red. You can’t win for losing.

I am now begging a friend for enough to keep my utilities on. I have put them off til the weekend.

I do have food, at least the staples. I have run out of fruit for breakfast but I still have some vegetables for a few more days. After that it’s just pasta, rice and bread.

Next week my Social Security comes. But I will be paying rent late so there’s a late fee added. This means the SS will not cover the rent My plan is to go to a community agency for help. They will do this only once a year.

November looms.

I have been sending out resumes a lot. For jobs for which I am over-qualified. I have a job application in for a position as a parish administrator. I’m hoping.

And that’s the poverty news thus far.

A world that is increasingly diverse and multicultural, which holds pluriform truths that find expression in an increasing variety of religions and religious practices.

It’s very confusing and threatening for some who have, perhaps, eaten too much of the Bread of Anxiety which the world offers in such abundance.

For others who are deeply affected by the spiritual starvation of the world, it is as exciting as opening up a great banquet table for a hungry person with absolutely no restrictions on the types of foods they might try.

My comment:
All of those practices you mention as coming from other traditions can actually be found in Christianity. The question we Churchers should be asking is, “Why don’t they know about them?” We should be proclaiming our roots of them. This is not to say that study and pracice of other religions is at all wrong; it is to be encouraged. But then we should invite them to find what they need in their own tradition as well.

This is what I experienced in my teens. I read up on the other traditions in a wonderful book by Lin Yutang, “The Scriptures of India and China,” a Modern Library Giant. Having so immersed myself, I then wondered if any of what I found, I called it spirituality, could be found in Christianity. It could be, it was, and I returned to the Church when I went away to college and there was a convenient Episcopal church. Yes, I decided that the Episcopal Church was the best vehicle, at least for me.

Second, I think that for authentic religious practice, I and we and they need to be rooted in a single tradition. Once that is more secure, we can borrow from other traditions of practice. Skipping down all the paths, gathering spiritual rosebuds while we may, should not be a lifelong trip. Settle down somewhere, get rooted somewhere, and then you can make the best use of the spiritual bouquet you have gathered.

Nakedness is vulnerability. Maybe it’s good to be vulnerable. It’s a kind of openness to others. It has its risks, but it also has its rewards.

Sometimes I have been publicly naked, such as on a beach. I found myself much more open to other people, more forthcoming, more sociable, more open to others, and a better listener. It was as if a barrier had been removed. And indeed one had.

If we can’t see all we have and give it to the poor, can we at least farm what we have and give it to the poor?

Psalm 78 tells the history of deliverance. Israel actively remembered the history of deliverance; it was central to its whole culture. If we know no history of deliverance, we cannot envision any deliverance. Without that, we cannot even imagine any change in our lives. We are stuck in an eternal present. Things will always be the same for ever and all we can do is veg out, be entertained, and avoid any knowledge of captivity. Think fleshpots of Egypt.

And how can we relate to what we hear and do in church, to what we hear in the Scriptures and in the Liturgy? The Passover Haggadah and its ritual Seder preserve the memory of past deliverance and open up the possibility for deliverance from whatever in our circumstances oppresses us and limits our action. But if we know no story of our own deliverance, how can we understand and participate in the Eucharist?

If there are no tales of deliverance, how shall we know our need for it, indeed for any change. Last Advent, our Adult Education program included a session entitled something like “What Kind of Savior Do We Need.” This topic was assigned to the Men’s Group to plan and lead. When they learned that I had suggested this topic, they came to me to try to understand what it meant. I really tried to explain what it might mean to need deliverance, but they never did get it. I think it must have been hard for these men to see that. They likely live in a business and professional culture where it is toxic to see themselves as needy. Perfection and omni-competence are the hallmarks of that culture. Their culture says they must save themselves.

What hell, to be totally responsible for your own salvation. What hell, to have no one to depend on except ourselves.
What hell never to be able to see yourself as victimized by forces outside yourself.

How shall we know our need for god, salvation, deliverance, etc without an awareness of our own and our groups’ escapes by the skin of our teeth. Actually I bet these men have some such awarenesses, but to what agencies do they refer their deliverances? Anything but God, anything but agencies outside their control. And there it is. Fear of the loss of control shapes the world of our culture.
So where can we in such a culture as this see God in our lives? Not to know our need, to think that we have it all under control is to leave no room for God there. What hell.