Teach Me The Way To Poverty

　　Dear Lord, teach me the way to poverty. It is so clear that possessions lead to many false worries and that these worries prevent me from paying attention to you. You are with me all the time, you want to speak to me, you want to guide me, teach me, counsel me, and you want to show me where to go. I know that you stand at the door and knock.

　　But I am so busy with other things, that I cannot hear you; so preoccupied with what to read, what to write, what to say, or what to do, that I do not realize that all those problems would not exist if I listened to you and stopped listening to my own inner turmoil.

　　Help me, Lord, to become poor, in all the meanings of that word. Show me how to use the money that comes my way, show me how to use the knowledge I have acquired, show me how to use the relationships, and contacts that have become part of my life. Let all this not prevent me from following you but rather become a way to serve you and your kingdom. Let me become free from all my false worries and concerns, and live with a poor and free heart so that you alone are my Lord. Amen.

　　~ Henry J.M. Nouwen, “A Cry For Mercy”.