Poverty

I have been thinking about how little use I make of poverty and how much like an Egyptian pharaoh I really am…

Mary Magdalene and Christ the Gardener (Kelly Latimore Icons)

I love ancient history.  I remember first learning about the ancient civilisations of Mesopotamia and China and Egypt when I was a little school girl in Year 7, and falling in love with the stories and the ways that people lived.  When we studied Medieval History in Year 8, it was cemented, and when I learned about the Ancient Greeks in my final years at school, I was just so happy.

Now, I have never studied history in a formal capacity after finishing my studies at school.  One of the reasons for this is that the subject of history is not a very profitable area to work in and I always had in the back of my mind that I wished to work in an area where I would have the capacity to earn enough money to support a family.  This is not to discredit history as an area of study or for a career, but simply to explain that though I have not formally studied the subject at a tertiary level, I have continued to be interested in the area…

One of the most fascinating parts of ancient history for me was the Ancient Egyptians.  The Ancient Egyptian culture is so interesting to me because it is a culture founded on a belief that what you have in this lifetime can be taken with you to the next one (the ancient Chinese were the same in many ways).  As a result of this, the Pharaohs of Egypt spent their lifetimes building great tombs (which we call the pyramids) that would be filled with all of the things that they wished to take with them into the afterlife…

It was not uncommon for Pharaohs to be buried with slaves and/or concubines and wives (who were killed) at the time of their deaths so that those people would keep them company and serve them in eternity.  This also meant that jewels and wealth were buried in these tombs.  Also, the bodies of the pharaohs themselves were embalmed and mummified to try to prevent decay.  In this way, the pharaohs tried to carry even their mortal (and decaying) flesh into eternity…

However, these tombs were plundered and the bodies – despite the best efforts and advancements – decayed.  And eventually they were left with nothing.  They were left in poverty – as we all are, after death…

And I have been reflecting on that as I have been reflecting on the parable Christ told of the rich man…

“The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully; and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones; and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:13-21).

We Christians are supposed to see poverty as a virtue.  We are supposed to use a detachment from the things of this world to strengthen our spiritual soul.  And I have been thinking about how little use I make of poverty and how much like an Egyptian pharaoh I really am…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.