God of the Poor

Do we have to lift ourselves out of physical poverty in order to lift ourselves out of Spiritual poverty?

This was the question presented by one of my colleagues today. I sat with that question. My parents were convinced that education was the way out of economic deprivation. It may have been true in their time, but many of us come out of school in debt that would buy small houses in some states. 

I was left with so many questions. Do we lift ourselves out of poverty? If poverty is a system that requires people to stay in it to survive, how do we lift ourselves out of it and if we could lift ourselves out of it, then why haven't people done so? Is there such a thing as Spiritual poverty? I know I have had moments where I felt separated from the God of my understanding. I know I have had moments of feeling absolutely connected and having fifty cents to my name, but I have always felt that Spiritual poverty was a matter of illusion, because something deep within me, knows I am connected-even when it doesn't look like it. 

What I found most curious about the question is the privilege of being able to separate Spiritual poverty and physical poverty when millions of people must find God in the dark, because there is no electricity, no simplicity. How many poor people must find God in rain water, because there is simply no access to clean water?  God of the poor is finding a clean piece of newspaper when toilet paper costs too much.

I don't know if I can link spiritual poverty with physical poverty, because so many of the physically poor that I know are spiritually connected and abundant. The question becomes, who is the God of the poor? The God of the poor is the God that is present as the wife is on her knees cleaning the floor. The God of the poor is a down to earth God and a God of details that walks with the poor three miles into town to get some small bit of sugar and salt.

 The God of the poor is a God who is a God who is not separate from the struggle of living. The God of the poor is the God that allows you to wake up and try to get support for your babies. The God of the poor walks into the welfare office with her to face the assault on any sense of yourself left by the social worker whose compassion morphed into contempt years ago. The God of the poor who is in the stretch of the back after bending all day to crush rocks. The God of the poor is in the wind that brings a moment of relief, the small reason to smile when nothing is funny.

Seems to me that the God of the poor is close, tangible- in the details. The God of the poor is present in the bathroom changing the toilet paper and cleaning the toilet bowls when everybody has gone home. The God of the poor is present when sanitary workers sweep the streets early in the morning. The God of the poor is the God of the invisible and therefore is unseen and tangible all at the same time.

For the poor, there is no order- we cannot wait for physical deprivation to be released before we access God, because God is present in the midst of all struggle.