Could It Happen Again?

As I was perusing the Dallas Morning News today, the business news reminded me again that many of us baby boomers peering into the retirement years are not seeing a pretty picture. Another article noted that even more people have now slipped below the poverty line.

Below is a graphic showing where the poverty line is drawn for differing household groupings:

Then there was the third headliner that caught my eye on the business page:  “Beautiful people benefit in many ways!”   Apparently, it took a researcher 20 years to figure out that people with more symmetrical facial features get hired faster, make more money, have better educated spouses, and are generally happier.  Wow.  What a shock.

Now, I want that researcher to tell me how many living below the poverty line are classified as “not-beautiful” as opposed to those living above it.

And the main question is:  what is the Gospel message for those living in poverty and caught in the generational cycle that seems to perpetuate it?  When John Wesley’s “methods” that eventually became Methodism swept over England, it was the poor who responded enthusiastically.  And as they applied the discipline of the “methods” of accountability, frequent meeting together, learning the Scriptures, observing the sacraments and acts of charity, they began a climb out of poverty.  Could that happen again?