The Lord Hears The Cry of the Poor
“Answer when I call, my saving God,
In my trouble you cleared a way;
Show me favor, hear my prayer.” Psalm 4:2Despite their obvious destitution, the people of Haiti continue to call on God. What faith! They genuinely believe that their God will help them, and what is more, they are right.I heard a statistic the other day that San Francisco had a similar earthquake in I believe 1989 but the causality toll was 63. What a contrast to today, in Haiti, having been wracked again yesterday by a 6.1 earthquake. More destruction. As someone on NPR said, “this is not a natural disaster issue, this is a poverty issue.” How is it that there can be such a tremendous difference in the two area’s? One reason is the instability of the Haitian government and their reluctance to allow any real nation building (maybe for fear of occupation…and really there is value in that). However, it keeps to many Haitian people in a position of need, in a position of collecting charity instead of receiving social justice. There are many charities on the ground that educate, job train, house build but until the government gets on board, there will be little lasting effect as evidenced by the quake that happened 9 days ago. It all goes to rubble. Though I am nowhere near an expert on any of this, common sense dictates that the poor need to be heard and afforded the same ability to create lasting homes, buildings, places of employment…infrastructure.”The Lord hears the cry of the poor” came to me the other day when I was listening to an interview that pointed to this opportunity to really nation build. With the efforts of Pres. Bush and Pres. Clinton, there is a sign that the current rule will be more open to “building back better” is I believe what was said, (though that may have been said by Pres. Obama). The global community needs to commit to the poor. Jesus said, “the poor will always be with you”…why could that be? Now is the time to commit in our hearts to not forget the poor.In our society where we have EVERYTHING, (much that falls to our detriment) it is easy to forget that there is a whole other world out there. But let this moment in time seal itself on our heart for the people of God who long for safety, education, health, and the simple ability to have access to shelter, food and employment. These are not lofty ideals…these are simple basic human right afforded to us by God, yes, but recognized by the U.N. as well. Our efforts must extend beyond our own backyard.So, today I pray that we may take this moment as a moment of redemption to finally view the poor as our brothers and sisters. All of the poor…here and abroad. May our hearts be open to the charge laid before us by Jesus to care for them. We ask that God heal the stricken, give hope to the hopeless and soften the hard-hearted. Amen.
