Reading Francis

Bet with the poor.

I once heard a speaker on the different cultures of economic classes who said that the poor rely on their relationships for their security, the middle class rely on their possessions for their security, and the rich rely on their connections for their security.

I’ve been thinking about that a lot as I see my community recover from Hurricane Helene. While we in Tampa Bay did not get a direct hit, it’s been the worst disaster here in more than a century, and so many friends and family have lost everything, or close to it. I know the same is true in other parts of the Southeast; I’ve heard from friends in Georgia and the Carolinas who have just been wrecked by this one. To the very limited extent that there are silver linings to these tormentingly destructive clouds, they have come in the stories of neighbors, and sometimes strangers, pitching in to help each other. Community dinners borne of powerless fridges that needed to be emptied. Roads cleared by friends with chainsaws. Flooded-out houses, stores and restaurants cleared out by people who are only there because they love their owners. I’ve talked to a lot of people who, amidst their sorrow and loss, are so, so grateful for the people who stepped up to help them.

Most of us, most of the time, take the middle class route and expect our possessions to get us through. We may not have much, but we root for our 401k and hope that our home value and paycheck will carry the day, that our houses will withstand the storms or else that our cars will get us away from them. 

Some of us hope our connections can bail us out. This is the story of the so-called “prosperity gospel”, which works on the premise that, if you foster a strong enough connection with God, He will come to your rescue in a literal deus ex machina when you need it. Others just settle on what we “olds” used to call a Rolodex.

What I see in the wake of the storm, though, is that we should bet with the poor. Stuff gets washed away. Connections get you only so far. But neither will give you a pass from the storm. Relationships won’t, either; but they will get you through.