I went to the temple to find God
And was only allowed to leave with myself
A miserable companion, thought I
So I gave all I had to the poor
Leaving nothing for myself
And hoping God would notice
The irony was completely lost on me
I would rather
Tear flesh and bone
Squeeze breath from my lungs
Force my way through the eye of a needle
Than quietly look in a mirror
For if they were poor...I was rich
And righteousness could be bought
Finally I gained the courage to look upon myself:
"Oh, God, please!
Spare a nickel for this starving, worthless soul!
I am all ash and dust!
Worthless!
Pitiful!
Shameful!
Wretched, wretched me!
Please, sir, spare a coin for this lost sheep!
Have some mercy you fucking asshole!!"
I am the poor.
With that liberating realization the next thought struck like a horn cutting through fog and the hair stood up even on the tips of my fingers:
"Love thy neighbor as thyself"
I had anxiously sought to lift up the poor
Hoping their shadow would hide my nakedness
But we are all poor
We are all naked
And we have all we need
So I continue to lift up the poor
Starting with the fellow in the mirror
Because I went to the temple looking for God
And found Him sitting outside on the sidewalk
Eating with my brother and my sister:
The poor.
