Spirit of Poverty

Though I am not as consistent as I would enjoy, I again began to read the first mediation and colloquy from "Divine Intimacy."

This week offers a lot of time for thought since it addresses Poverty.  The book is primarily intended for Carmelites, professed religious, and I have to remind myself of this.  However, the thrust of the virtue of spiritual poverty is still within my reach.

The difficulty comes from rationalizing why we own things, and save money.  We have so many opportunities, living in rural Africa, to be generous with donations.  Plenty of beggars ready to take care of loose change.  However, it again is a struggle with balancing a spirit of poverty with prudence.

Is it wise (prudent) to give to beggars?  Probably not.  There are much better avenues to help support the truly needy, avenues that need to address more than just a material poverty.

Anyway, I just want to point out that a spirit of poverty, lived as a wife, and mother is attainable.  Balancing it with what our family needs to live safely, and with health can offer a lot of thoughts to chew on.  Finding those opportunities to exercise it are numerous.