[daily thoughts, nothing too important]

Citylife Boston is a beautiful church in many aspects. I know, I know, I talk about it a lot. But with good reason; its dedication to blending teaching and learning is so compelling. I truly am taught when I attend - taught about Christ's life and actions, taught about authentic love for him and the lives of others, and taught about the earthy, tangible ways of enacting this love.
Lately I've been confronted head-on by the idea of poverty...which makes me see that it's something I clearly need to be thinking more about. One such confrontation occurred during a Citylife service, on the week we were discussing radical generosity. As I flipped through the church bulletin I paused on a passage quoted there from Church of the Poor, a passage that differentiated between absolute and relative poverty.
Absolute poverty is what we associate with anything "third world" - a state "when people have absolute insufficiency to meet their basic needs". But then there's relative poverty - the kind of poverty I tend to forget on a daily basis. Relative poverty is "a measure of the extent to which people are on the margins of society...It is often an exclusion from opportunity and participation, a marginalization from society."
I'm sorry to say that absolute poverty is the easier of the two to envision myself fighting. I think, clumsily, Of course I would be willing to travel somewhere thrilling and foreign, and speak love into the lives of people there who have nothing. It would be an adventure! Sadly, yes, that's often my mindset. But relative poverty is what I sidestep on busy streets. Relative poverty is what exists in the city of Boston as I sit in Citylife Church and imagine traveling to new countries to "help" the absolute poor. But marginalization and exclusion from society...that's heartbreaking. Why is it so hard to care for the people who are nearby?
I don't have a clear idea on where I'm going with this post. But today, in a book I was reading, I found these words of an aboriginal woman: "If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us walk together." I should care for the relative and the absolute poor, not because the idea of one is more romantic to me than the other, but because all of our liberation is tied up together. I can see this is something I need to be reminded about. God knows the ways my heart is selfish and fearful, and I'm thankful he's teaching it to be otherwise.
just some thoughts of late...thanks for reading the ramblings.

In other news, Dana and I drove 8 hours to PA last night on another roadtrip - we are really racking up our hours in the car together. Obviously, there were multiple coffee stops involved. Saw Dillsburg, did some thrifting, hit up an incredible Amish bakery...then on to Lewisburg to spend the rest of Easter break at Molly's house. This is one of the things I love most about being at school on the East Coast - the adventures and explorations of the area, and having so many homes that I feel welcomed into.