Rich and Poor in Cities
I wanted to pick up on a topic I wrote about a couple of days ago, this notion of rich and poor juxtaposed on our city streets. Just yesterday morning on my walk to work, as I was approaching the behemoth that is the new building for the Wharton School, a homeless person in tattered clothing wobbled toward me, screaming expletives. I couldn't help but pause at this side-by-side image.
Fifteen years ago, on my way into downtown San Jose to volunteer at the homeless shelters, I would always pass by tons of new construction; after all, this was the time when the city was emerging into the great commercial and cultural hub that it is now. These stark images helped shape my passion for urban ministry, my sense that we could do better by our cities and by their poorest.
Last year, when I went to China to adopt my daughter, I saw some more juxtapositions. China, as you know, is booming, and yet it is still a predominantly poor country. And so I saw gleaming skyscraper and gleaming skyscraper, all erected in the midst of urban squalor.
So it is a topic I cannot seem to escape, no matter how old I get and no matter where I go. And yet, though it is an issue I have given a lot of thought to, I can't say I have come to any sort of peace about what is going on, what ought to be done, what my response ought to be as a Christian and an urbanite and a young professional.
Some days I actually wish I was on either extreme of this story. It is easier to be oblivious, to not care about or to be patronizing towards the poor in our midst. It looks nobler to be outraged, to vent indignation at inequality and demonstrate solidarity with the poor and preach condemnation of the rich.
But my heart is on neither side, but somewhere in the middle. The issue is too in my face to ignore it, my heart too warmed by God to dismiss it, my sensibilities too practical to be satisfied just ranting without actually accomplishing anything substantive and sustainable. I am left with a faith that believes in a God of miracles, but a mind that knows just how entrenched the problems are, how complex the issues, how onerous the solutions. Some days I want to change the world but am discouraged that my best efforts make so small a difference, other days I struggle to give even that small effort, and still others I give that effort gladly but feel bad I can't do more.
For now, I will say this: I live and work and worship and shop and play and transact in the city. And everywhere I go, there are rich and poor, solutions and problems. And God is God over all of it, working it all towards a great and grand end my mind can't even fathom and my heart can't even hold, but my faith can trust wille be for good.
Fifteen years ago, on my way into downtown San Jose to volunteer at the homeless shelters, I would always pass by tons of new construction; after all, this was the time when the city was emerging into the great commercial and cultural hub that it is now. These stark images helped shape my passion for urban ministry, my sense that we could do better by our cities and by their poorest.
Last year, when I went to China to adopt my daughter, I saw some more juxtapositions. China, as you know, is booming, and yet it is still a predominantly poor country. And so I saw gleaming skyscraper and gleaming skyscraper, all erected in the midst of urban squalor.
So it is a topic I cannot seem to escape, no matter how old I get and no matter where I go. And yet, though it is an issue I have given a lot of thought to, I can't say I have come to any sort of peace about what is going on, what ought to be done, what my response ought to be as a Christian and an urbanite and a young professional.
Some days I actually wish I was on either extreme of this story. It is easier to be oblivious, to not care about or to be patronizing towards the poor in our midst. It looks nobler to be outraged, to vent indignation at inequality and demonstrate solidarity with the poor and preach condemnation of the rich.
But my heart is on neither side, but somewhere in the middle. The issue is too in my face to ignore it, my heart too warmed by God to dismiss it, my sensibilities too practical to be satisfied just ranting without actually accomplishing anything substantive and sustainable. I am left with a faith that believes in a God of miracles, but a mind that knows just how entrenched the problems are, how complex the issues, how onerous the solutions. Some days I want to change the world but am discouraged that my best efforts make so small a difference, other days I struggle to give even that small effort, and still others I give that effort gladly but feel bad I can't do more.
For now, I will say this: I live and work and worship and shop and play and transact in the city. And everywhere I go, there are rich and poor, solutions and problems. And God is God over all of it, working it all towards a great and grand end my mind can't even fathom and my heart can't even hold, but my faith can trust wille be for good.
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