Sweet Sabbath

"No one can celebrate a genuine Christmas without being truly poor.  The self-sufficient, the proud, those who, because they have everything, look down on others, those who have no need even of God -- for them there will be no Christmas.  Only the poor, the hungry, those who need someone to come on their behalf, will have that someone.  That someone is God.  Emmanuel.  God-with-us.  Without poverty of spirit there can be no abundance of God."  ~Oscar Romero

One of the best things about living in the Solomon Islands is the utter dependence it produces in me.  Dependence on God and dependence on those who live around me.  In America, it's too easy to fall into the trap of thinking I can do life without help...impeding my relationship with God and my relationship with people.  Which is why this quote rings so true for me:

"Without poverty of spirit there can be no abundance of God."

I might also add that when I feel self-sufficient and proud, I have no need of friends and family and tend to stay walled up in my own house.  When I feel like I can do this thing called life on my own, I won't have authentic relationships.  But when I'm brought to my knees by my sinfulness and my lack of wisdom and my absolute need for a circle of people around me, I am forced to be transparent.  And that's where the abundance of God and the deepening of friendships begins.