Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Job chapter 30 verses 24 through 30:
24”Surely one does not turn against the needy,
when in disaster they cry for help.
25 Did I not weep for those whose day was hard?
Was not my soul grieved for the poor?
26 But when I looked for good, evil came;
and when I waited for light, darkness came.“
As humans we have a very bad habit of demonizing the poor and moralizing the stories of those who are down and out.
I think this is part of the way we cope with the anxieties and ambiguities of life, by seeking to distance ourselves morally from those who struggle and suffer. It is the way we keep up our illusion of probity equaling prosperity. In the most disgusting cases, the poor are actually vilified for their needs. It is especially sad when this vilification is done by those who are said to be “helping”. We simply cannot both help and hate someone at the same time.
All this distancing and judging are the work of the ego. They are a part of our own insecurities. They are ways of coping with these insecurities. And the real answer to the ego’s insecurities is not greater distance from the poor, but greater connection. Greater listening. Greater story telling. The development of greater empathy.
Ours are all human stories. They are not too different one from another. Job’s suffering story could be our story; it may well be our story. The sooner we learn to accept that — and to accept one another — the less fearful we shall be. For perfect love casts out all fear; and love can only take place in the context of nearness and embrace.
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