Poverty of Conscience

"Poverty of Conscience"
by scott budzar

A saint once said without any wonder,
“The bread you don’t use
is the bread of those who hunger.”
So shall I sit around (remote control in hand)
and temporize
my ability or inability to respond
to all those hungry eyes?

Or can I be so brave
as to weep over my own neglect
Of all the meals I threw away
and the spare change that I kept.
We have categories: Vegetarian or Vegan,
Carnivores and Free-Gans
With bumper stickers to criticize
each other's decisions.
Stop with your stance
and can you listen?
While this day 6,500
will die from malnutrition.

Tomorrow morning a fatherless son, a mother
and her HIV infected daughter
Will walk 10 miles for a few gallons
of fecal laden water.
A trip that will provide hardly enough
to temporarily quench a thirst.
Without a choice they knowingly
drink a death but all the while
they give thanks to God for life first.

Pipelines of this liquid life
run all throughout my home.
Is it something I can give or share
or just claim it as my own.

I mean… Does my lawn really need watered
to be a little greener for all
my neighbors to see?
Or dare I be convinced
that 150 people die every hour
that I decide to think
more about me?

There is not one black family
or face on the street where I reside.
But in the most impoverished section of my city
the white face is harder to find.
I cannot settle for the
“that’s just how it is” response.
Because us Christians should know
that’s not what God wants.

How much can minimum wage
feed a single mom with two?
The wealthiest nation in the world says
50 bucks a month will do.
Can you give to the needy
instead of excelling at the art of excuse?
Or is it just easier to get upset
when someone on welfare eats better than you?

They say managing poverty is big business.
So is the Church gonna get “Mega”
or oppose this?
All this reaching inward
is a kick in the teeth
to folks already knocked down;
While pastors take lessons
from marketing strategies
instead of the Sermon on the Mount.

Today’s topics: Racism, fair trade,
war and peace.
Such cool words to print on a t-shirt
and then sell to you and me.

Please tell me that when the Church
is asked to respond to those in need
That we won’t form some holy huddle
and chant WWJD.

Does all my ranting qualify me
as just a liberal “social Gospel” fanatic?
Or if I’m a republican then,
oh yeah - I must be a war-loving addict.

And since when did Christianity all of a sudden
become just about the issues of
homosexuality and abortion.
When hookers, thieves, and notorious sinners knew Yahweh as their Portion.

I wonder of these things with a frustration and confusion that will not go away.
It is because I cannot escape or blanket my heart
from the things Jesus had to say.

Have we, oh Church, blessed God with monuments
or have we paved another mile for hell to come.
In the words of MLK - a "poverty of conscience"
is what we suffer from.