We’re all made by God.
The rich,
the poor
are all the same
fundamentally,
under their surroundings,
if we aren’t taken in
by looks,
or our standards,
or the rhetoric
of those
who don’t care for
the “other”.
We all have the same needs
love,
nourishment,
safety,
a place to call home.
So why
do we think
we can be down
on those
whose life circumstances
have not been as ours?
Walk by them,
ignore them,
hurl abuse at them,
or question their rights?
Have we walked in their shoes?
Lived with what they have lived with?
Then we have no right
to pontificate
and every duty to help.
‘These people’*
as we are so keen to call them,
to keep them separate,
not like me
are actually just like me
and could be me,
or any one of my loved ones,
should life take one
slightly different turn.
And so I am called
to reach out,
to share,
to treat justly,
to love,
to bring hope.
Because I should treat them
as I would want God
to treat me.
Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23 (CEV)
The Value of a Good Reputation
22 A good reputation and respect
are worth much more
than silver and gold.
2 The rich and the poor
are all created
by the Lord.
8 Troublemakers get in trouble,
and their terrible anger
will get them nowhere.
9 The Lord blesses everyone
who freely gives food
to the poor.
22 Don’t take advantage
of the poor
or cheat them in court.
23 The Lord is their defender,
and what you do to them,
he will do to you.
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