Soup and Bread

Ember Friday of Advent

The purpose of education is to bring out what is best in our nature. In college I put in some time at community volunteer work. I staffed soup kitchens and homeless shelters, put a roof on a Habitat house in Lynchburg, VA, and helped with the Georgia Special Olympics.

I was a decent student, but I didn't qualify for a scholarship; I got by with money from my parents, student loans, and whatever cash I could scrape together doing whatever jobs I could find. Plenty of times I had to pass on outings with friends for lack of funds, and more than once I went hungry. I hardly had a bad time of it, however, as my time working with the homeless and the poor illustrated in a dramatic way.

 

On one expedition I partnered with a few friends from church to help with the local soup kitchen. My duty that day was to serve soup and sandwiches. Nearby my friend Laurie sat at a table, and she was  smiling and having a great time with some of the kids. Laurie was from a wealthy family – her father owned a Mercedes dealership. One time she'd shown up at school with a second Mercedes so that she could "have something to drive on weekends." And I was struck by how completely at ease and happy she was among the destitute. A line of thought began in my head: Laurie wasn't at all self-conscious, even in the face of abject poverty. Then it dawned on me: she was grateful for what she had. She'd accepted her blessings from God as such and not something she was entitled to. My friend's humility and gratitude – her poverty of spirit – enabled her to look the world in the eye without blinking. 

The Spanish have a saying: "There are no pockets in a shroud;" rendered colloquially, this is our expression, "You can't take it with you." In the end, everything we have – even our lives themselves – actually belong to God and not to us. Our role is to be His stewards, trusted for a time to care for what He provides – and after a time we'll be called to account for how we've done. It's liberating when this truth finally sinks in; Franciscan style, it can even put a smile on your lips.

 
Beati pauperes spiritu: quoniam ipsorum est regnum cælorum.