08/27/2007
What About the Poor Right Here?
by Kate Bishop
It's a common question about the Millennium Development Goals: Don't we have poor people right here in America? Kate Bishop of Maine gives her answer:
What About The Poor Right Here?
It brings to mind, "Who is my neighbor?" in the gospels. The answer seems to be the stranger. Jesus took it up a notch when the person who responded to the stranger in need was also a member of one of the most despised groups in that culture, the Samaritans. Ironically, those we would expect to exercise charity and compassion, the 'priests' and the wealthy faithful, passed by and ignored the victim on the road.
We are called to minister to those in need, often the stranger. We are all neighbors, whether next door or
down the road. In the case of MDG's, down the road is quite a distance. In this modern age, we are given the ability to know of and about others all over the globe. There is no corner on the planet that is unheard of. No
road that we cannot travel by electronics or other means. We are truly all part of one another and interdependent.
In a more practical way, none of us can answer all the needs of all the people. I believe we are each called to respond to our neighbor. For some of us, that call is to MDG's internationally. For others, it may be to persons and situations closer to home. We can all learn from each other and every successful outreach can be a source of energy and inspiration to all our efforts whether at home or abroad.
This is not a call of "either or" but "both and". If that focus is retained, every act of kindness and social justice will multiply its affect many times over.
