I Am Poor Among The Poor

A great number of people in our country wallow in abject and misery. Our economic condition pushes us to live an austere life. And even if a comfortable living is more preferable we just have to be contented with scarcity because we find no alternative. In our days that luxury in the past has become a necessity (e.g. the use computer) we might consider it a discomfort to have no access on some of the modern gadgets. Poverty is not a choice. It is a misfortune. But even if we consider ourselves poor there are still others who are poorer than us.

As Christ sided with the poor we too are called to do the same. I can live this option for the poor by considering them as fellow sisters and brothers in Christ. My attention should be focused on them and I must cultivate the attitude of sensitivity to their needs. Getting in touch with them is already a great opportunity in promoting their dignity and value in the community. Having this disposition of heart and mind motivates me to interact freely with these people.

With my experience with them in my neighborhood at home and in my pastoral exposures, I find no difficulty in dealing with them. They live simply. They talk of their experiences honestly. Many of them relate with others without any sign of suspicion and pretension. The poorest among them lives in a very pitiful condition in which almost no one sees the hope of relief. Living among them, I find myself materially powerless to transform the situation.

I hear news about people who had their homes demolished. I find people who just sleep in the sidewalk. I see the poor fishermen, farmers and workers, street children, slum dwellers, sidewalk vendors and beggars. In the midst of the injustices suffered by the poor, I find myself questioning what is the cause of all these things. This question needs no mere words for answers but concrete actions done collectively to remedy the plight of the poor.

No one among the poor that I met is pleased with poverty. Most of them dream for a better life. But there are instances that in seeking for a better life, the rights of others are trampled upon. Thus, to desire for alleviation of the impoverished condition should not cause the displacement of others.

On the other hand, to be a sign of hope for the upliftment of the poor is to be in solidarity with the poor. To be a witness to a life of poverty sometimes is not easy. The most inconvenient or discomforting thing I have experienced in living a poor life is the lack of comfort room. Although in the rural area when I was a child I used not to go to the comfort room, at present I feel this is so embarrassing. Even the lack of an electric fan is already a discomfort. But to my mind these little struggles need to change my attitude in accepting things as they are. I do not mean here complacency that is tantamount to mediocrity. I should not be complaining with the limitation of what I have but my criticism should be focused towards the liberation from the inhumane situation of the poor masses. Such a situation is not a will of God.