Wouldn't it be nice if we could stamp out poverty?

A long time ago there was a city. In that city there was a man, a wise man, a kind man, a righteous man. His name was Enoch. He taught the people of the city to love each other and to love God. They listened. As a result there was no poor among them.

What would it be like to have no poor among us? It makes one think; what does it mean to be poor?

There are all kinds of poor. There are those without money or means who are poor. There are the poor in heart and poor in spirit. There are poor sports, poor losers and poor winners; there are poor leaders.

There are those without money but who are not poor. There are those who are rich who live in poverty of thought, deed or character.

Students and schools produce poor test scores; athletes and teams can have a poor season; and executives lead companies to poor quarters or poor earnings.

Whole countries are poor and evildoers are poor excuses for human beings. Sadly, there are poor parents and the reaction is “poor, poor kids.”

Still others make poor decisions. They are captives of chemicals or slaves to substances.

Many make no decision at all except to associate with a man who abandons them. Tragically there is a growing portion of our own who are poor because they are single women with children.

All of these examples should not distract us from the economic reality of being poor. There are people who go to bed hungry for want of food. Many have no beds. They wake up wondering if the next morsel will appear.

Being poor can be relative. There is an expanding gap between the “haves” and the “have-nots.” Some pundits say the “have-nots” have a lot and consequently there is no problem. Others say the poor in America are rich. They just need to live in Africa. There they would be kings.

Many programs are based upon a quantified definition of poverty. They are available if income falls below some percent of federal poverty levels. These lines in the sand are calculated using all kinds of equations created by economists. However, this is a pretty big country, and some areas with expensive local conditions can make the federal poverty level a barrier to receiving needed assistance.

Because there are so many ways of being poor, one has to be amazed at the residents of Enoch. How did they eliminate all the poor among them? How can we abolish the poor among us?

Being poor is both an individual and a societal challenge. It is a problem of too little self-help.