by Jimmy G

Created on: March 20, 2010

THE MEANING OF POVERTY: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God”

 I have often thought about this quotation, and wondered why a rich man would have a very difficult time entering the kingdom of God. In order to get to the meaning of this lesson, let us try to understand the meaning of being rich.

 There are several definitions of the word ‘rich’. But for the sake of time and brevity, let me focus on a particular definition of the word in order to extract the meaning of the above quote. ‘Rich’, according to the dictionary, is defined as “having abundant possessions and especially material wealth.” A man is said to be rich if he has an abundance of money that could buy properties and cars, that could afford him to travel anytime he wants, and so forth. With all these luxuries that money can buy, one desires to stay rich as long as he can. Such a man is full of himself, full of ego because he is attached to material things. He not only craves for wealth, but also for the continuity of wealth. In other words, a rich man is not satisfied with he has, but he yearns to stay rich or be richer than he already is. The more he craves, the more he is filled with his ego. The more he is filled with his ego, the more he is said to be selfish. And as he stays on being selfish, the more he is attached to his material wealth.

How then does he view his family, i.e., his wife, his son and his daughter? As a rich man, he is a victim of attachment to his own self. Anything or any person that is of value – added value – to his ego, is an extension of his self. This only means that he is emotionally attached only to his self. He looks upon his son as an extension of his self. Therefore, he desires that his son to be like him, and possibly to continue his financial empire. His daughter, he insists, must be married to a man just as rich has he is – or even richer – in order to secure his wealth. His wife: yes, she is one of the many rewards of his being rich. A rich man is full of himself, attached to his self, that he has a difficult time treating persons as they are, for who they are. Things and persons are valuable if only they feed the rich man’s ego. A rich man, therefore, understands nothing of love for love entails treating and respecting people as they are.

It is no wonder that Christ spoke of the poor so favorably. A poor man, who is the opposite of the rich man, is not, in my opinion, to be understood as one who has little or no money. A man who has little money may yet be attached to whatever he has, and be just as full of his self as the rich man is. A ‘poor’ man, on the contrary, is a man who has no attachment to things or persons. And because he has no attachment to things or persons, he is empty of his self, of his ego. He is unselfish. (A ‘poor’ man may have wealth, but is not attached to it.) A ‘poor’ man lives not for his self, but primarily for others; and therefore a ‘poor’ man is not full of himself, of his ego. A ‘poor’ man, therefore understands the meaning of love for he treats and respect the others for who they are. He yearns for people to realize their potentialities, and therefore is involved in their lives just as Christ was. Only those, who have no attachment to things and persons, are poor. And only those poor in spirit can enter the kingdom of God.

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