Neither poverty nor riches

When I have eyes to survey the riches we often take for granted, I can't help but recall this portion of the 30th chapter of Proverbs:

"Give me neither poverty nor riches;

Feed me with the food that is my portion,

That I not be full and deny You and say,

'Who is the Lord?'

Or that I not be in want and steal,

And profane the name of my God"

I'm used to praying that my family won't be impoverished. I read this proverb and think that we needn't worry about the other end of the spectrum, that we are a long way from riches. But it occurs to me that we enjoy a living standard that is wealthy, compared to the rest of the world, and certainly to the writer of this proverb. We are full, we are fat and happy, and we are surrounded by distractions that invite us to say, not with our mouths but with our actions and inactions, "Who is the Lord?"

Immanuel is no less God with us when we find ourselves amidst plenty, but our attention is naturally lured, most of us, to trinkets and comforts. It makes me wonder if, when I am praying that poverty never befalls my family, I ought to pray that we see more clearly through our abundant blessings. This is an especially compelling notion as I consider the trash bags crammed into and around our trash can outside, stuffed with wrapping paper and food packaging.

When it comes to Christmas, we needn't adopt stern asceticism, any more than we should depend on good works to save our souls. We are liberated to rejoice in wealth or hardship, I think, when we have given over our hearts neither to possessions nor their absence, but to the author and perfecter of faith.

Recently my seven year-old, Stephen Caleb, read a letter we received from the Ronald McDonald House, and decided to give them all the money he's been saving toward a robot. Caleb loves robots. He's been talking about buying a robot for a year, and saving his dollars. But instead of buying a robot, he handed over his robot money to the woman running the local Ronald McDonald House, and smiled as he did it.

To forfeit something we hold dear, absent a heart of giving, is despicable piety. Not to be inclined to give, meanwhile, is hardheartedness. But to give so freely is, with reference to the proverb, not to be over-full at all. It is to say, to a world that wants to forget: This is the Lord. I hope one day I can shine as brightly as this seven year-old boy.