Reflections for 10/27/10

"Middle-class Americans are, by the standards of the world, very rich people."(R.Rohr "Radical Grace" p.351)

A friend of mine who is very active in the "Millenium Development Goals," recently posted on Facebook a link to site where you could plug in your income and see where you sat financially in relationship to the rest of the world.

Needless to say I came out very rich. And while I understand that compared to the majority of the people in the 2/3 world, in my context I don't feel very rich.

I suppose that's part of being middle-class in America. We can see the uber wealthy. We are bombarded by messages that tell us we can have more, even though we really can't, nor do we need it. We also can see poorer people around us and realize that it wouldn't take much to put us there either. Though realistically the odds aren't that great.

Part of the middle-class dilemma, at least as I've lived it, is learning to be satisfied with what I have. It really is more than "my daily bread." My self worth won't improve by having more stuff. It certainly will improve by believing I have everything I really need.

Blessings,
Ed