by L.B. Woodgate

Created on: January 24, 2010

There is material poverty and then there is the empty soul, devoid of a humanity that connects us all with life.

Grinding grain with rough clothing brings to the mind joy and contentment.

What worth kingship without peace of soul?

- Adi Granth, Suhi, M.5, p. 745

I’m not sure that all who are considered poor in material wealth are in a position to teach us a lesson. It seems the instructional value of “the poor” is only beneficial to us if we see those who take in life to its fullest as they live meagerly. People who struggle to put food on the table and save enough to buy their own home or send their kids to college are not automatically symbols of a life that has value. Being poor doesn’t mean we are separated from the desires to enrich ourselves with worldly goods. What it does do however, unlike the wealthy person, is provide the opportunity to glean from life that which is there for all, rich or poor, and not bemoan the economic poverty one finds themselves in.

Our material possessions say a lot about us other than what our relative economic status is. When not inherited, large fortunes come from achieving financial success in a world that rewards people for being clever and talented.  Bill Gates was clever and his financial rewards reflect a success with his genius in the field of modern communications.  And though he by no means lives a simple life, for whatever personal reasons, he has chosen not to let his wealth keep him a prisoner of materialism’s bane. His massive wealth that comes from his creation of Microsoft® has allowed him to share that wealth with people  who suffer the effects of dire poverty around the world who lack basic resources for survival.

I don’t speak of Bill Gates to praise his great wealth but to point out that the Gates have nothing over the man or woman that works two jobs to make ends meet and have also not allowed materialism to be the measure by which they exist and co-exist with people around them. The Gates of this world need certain essentials to survive just like every other person on the planet. We all share that in common. Beyond that, all else is spare parts, not required to fulfill a life and create value that makes us whole. The real richness in our human experience is our connectedness to one another; our relationships with our family, friends, co-workers and sometimes total strangers. The person who is without this by choice is the poorer man or woman amongst

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