When we are indifferent to what we have, we do not cling to it. If we value our friends more than our property, we can forgive them if they lose it. As we value our friends, we help them to value themselves.
We witness this indifference to property in those who society casts aside. Thus if we listen to those who have nothing, we can learn from them. As we embrace the least of those among us, so we welcome Jesus into our hearts.
I have seen these truths lived out by my homeless friends who I'll call "Luke" and "Katie" here. Luke had loaned his bicycle to Katie. She made a stop on the bicycle, and at that spot was sitting and talking with another friend. A little while later, Katie got up to go to the bicycle, but she didn't find it since someone had taken it. "Oh, no!" Katie exclaimed. "Luke is going to kill me!"
Later when I saw Katie again, I asked her how Luke reacted to the news that his bicycle had been stolen. She related that Luke had shrugged and had off-handedly remarked, "It's just a bicycle."
Luke was indifferent about the bicycle. He was able to forgive Katie for losing it because he valued her friendship more than having that bicycle.
Valuing her more than property, Luke has helped Katie to value herself. Forgiving her, Luke has freed her from the bonds of guilt and regret which had been enslaving her. Loosed of the chains of regret over how she had acted in the past, Katie is free to move forward. Luke has encouraged her to see herself as more than certain choices she has made in the past. He is detached from, and is indifferent to what he has, and so he is empowered, by letting go of what he has, by not having anything, to help her let go of the destructive conceptions of herself that she has had.
To look at Luke, one merely sees a quiet, unassuming, unpretentious individual. He collects and hauls large volumes of recyclable materials, and brings them to the recycling center to earn a little income. He is an impoverished, homeless man living on the streets.
From this poor man, one could conclude that one has nothing to learn. Yet from this man living on the margins of society, one can receive instruction on the need to be indifferent about one's possessions, or about which course of action to take, much like Saint Ignatius of Loyola counseled. From a social outcast, one can be taught valuable spiritual lessons.
Jesus, who is present in the least of those among us,* comes again and again to teach us. Those who are homeless around us can help us see how to move forward. In how we respond to them, we determine what we learn.
In how we react to social outcasts, so we respond to Jesus. Whatsoever we do to the least of those among us, we do to Him.**
* Matthew 25:40,45
** Matthew 25:40,45
We witness this indifference to property in those who society casts aside. Thus if we listen to those who have nothing, we can learn from them. As we embrace the least of those among us, so we welcome Jesus into our hearts.
I have seen these truths lived out by my homeless friends who I'll call "Luke" and "Katie" here. Luke had loaned his bicycle to Katie. She made a stop on the bicycle, and at that spot was sitting and talking with another friend. A little while later, Katie got up to go to the bicycle, but she didn't find it since someone had taken it. "Oh, no!" Katie exclaimed. "Luke is going to kill me!"
Later when I saw Katie again, I asked her how Luke reacted to the news that his bicycle had been stolen. She related that Luke had shrugged and had off-handedly remarked, "It's just a bicycle."
Luke was indifferent about the bicycle. He was able to forgive Katie for losing it because he valued her friendship more than having that bicycle.
Valuing her more than property, Luke has helped Katie to value herself. Forgiving her, Luke has freed her from the bonds of guilt and regret which had been enslaving her. Loosed of the chains of regret over how she had acted in the past, Katie is free to move forward. Luke has encouraged her to see herself as more than certain choices she has made in the past. He is detached from, and is indifferent to what he has, and so he is empowered, by letting go of what he has, by not having anything, to help her let go of the destructive conceptions of herself that she has had.
To look at Luke, one merely sees a quiet, unassuming, unpretentious individual. He collects and hauls large volumes of recyclable materials, and brings them to the recycling center to earn a little income. He is an impoverished, homeless man living on the streets.
From this poor man, one could conclude that one has nothing to learn. Yet from this man living on the margins of society, one can receive instruction on the need to be indifferent about one's possessions, or about which course of action to take, much like Saint Ignatius of Loyola counseled. From a social outcast, one can be taught valuable spiritual lessons.
Jesus, who is present in the least of those among us,* comes again and again to teach us. Those who are homeless around us can help us see how to move forward. In how we respond to them, we determine what we learn.
In how we react to social outcasts, so we respond to Jesus. Whatsoever we do to the least of those among us, we do to Him.**
* Matthew 25:40,45
** Matthew 25:40,45
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