Gifts the Dying and the Poor May Give

"These rags -- are the rot-corruptible riches of he kingdom of this world. Giving them away, giving oneself away wholly, laying down one's soul, a man renders himself poor in spirit, which is blessed, since then his is the Kingdom of Heaven, in accord with the promise of the Savior, since that he therein is become a possessor of the incorruptible and eternal riches of this Kingdom, and is become so already here on earth, finding joy beyond measure, the giving away of self with a sacrificial love, with the ease and freedom of non-acquisitiveness."      - Mother Maria of Paris

I began this blog because I had an image cross my heart and mind.  The image was of how bereft the dying feel in the inability to give to others at Christmas.

While getting ready to write a new hospice article, it became apparent to me that one of the things we are robbed of in our weakening state approaching death is getting around and do the things we might normally do.  This being the Christmas/Hanukkah holiday season, my mind naturally bent toward the holidays.  Dying people are often so weak that they cannot go out and do the "shopping" required for giving gifts at the holidays.

This thought and impression ran its course and turned into another thought: "that the poor are also robbed of the ability to give, by virtue of their poverty."  And then, I ran across the quotes in Mother Maria on poverty of spirit.

It is true that a viable component to our religious and christian outlook is the ability to give away.  It is of course the central theme in the Gospels.  We are to give away what we are, have, and desire.  All for the sake of Christ.

Think about it, though.  What immense value you have gained in being able to give.  How have you felt filled in your emptying of your self for others.  You give to the poor, to the homeless, to the imprisoned.  You feel full at fulfilling a critical command.

What happens to you when you become poor and can no longer find the means to give - only survive.  Or are lying on your death bed and can no longer give - only survive.  A vital portion of our soul dies when we cannot give.

Can we not discover ways for the poor and the dying to give?  Can we not stretch ourselves beyond ourselves and find ways for the disenfranchised to connect to a simple core value of human fullness - the ability to give to another.

Find ways for the poor and the dying to give.  Find ways for others to connect to the feeling of fullness in the emptying nature of humility and grace.  Surely, it is easy for us to fulfill these calls to self-emptying for ourselves.  Can we look so far beyond our own reality to seek ways to help others fulfill the call to perfection?