Power of the world is self-sufficiency.
At first, we must have our children depend on
us, for they cannot survive without
us. As time goes on, however, we rejoice
in the independence of our children, we teach them to be strong in
themselves. The maturity of a child is
never done until they are living in the world on their own power, standing tall
in the midst of a difficult society.
Our whole society is built upon the self-sufficiency of the
individual. Each person makes their own
decision, relies on their own wit and hard work to make of them who they
are. The core text is the legend of the
individual who creates their lives by their own resources and abilities,
despite obstacles, despite opponents.
Self-sufficiency is so foundational to our society that if
Society determines to punish someone, they take away a portion of their
self-sufficiency. A violator is fined of
the funds they have earned; a criminal is taken away from the opportunity to
live their own life, to make their own decisions, to earn their own way.
Yet this is not the path of the kingdom of God. It might be debated whether complete
independence is realistic in any world, but it is certainly not the truth of
the kingdom. The path of the kingdom is
that of dependence.
Jesus says that if anyone must enter the kingdom of God,
they must return and be like a child, learning humility, learning faith. The way of the child is the way of
dependence, the rejection of self-sufficiency.
To be born again is to become an infant again, taking up what the Mother
in Heaven gives us, and relying on that alone.
“Consider the
ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet
God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds!...Consider
the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even
Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so
clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is
thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You men of
little faith! And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do
not keep worrying. For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek;
but your Father knows that you need these things. But seek His kingdom, and
these things will be added to you.” (Luke 12:24-31)
The seeker of God’s kingdom does not fret about food,
clothing or the basic needs of the world.
It is provided by the Father, giving freedom for the child to do the
work of the kingdom, and that alone.
Worrying about food, clothing and the items of
survival are left to those of the world of self-sufficiency.
The kingdom of God is the world of the child, the world of
those who live by faith. The realm of
self-sufficiency mocks this way, calling it unrealistic and foolish. Yes, it is unrealistic to the adult, but to
the child it is simple truth. The
fearful call the way of dependence foolish and the path of destruction. Surely, the self-sufficient who walk the way
of dependence will fail and possibly harm themselves. But it is the glory of a child to be
vulnerable.
Some would say that once one has tasted self-sufficiency
that it is not possible to become dependent.
Yet those who follow the way of Jesus recognize that the incarnation is
this very path, the way we are to follow.
Jesus had all power within his hand and he surrendered it to become an
infant. He sucked only on the breast
that was given him, he was cleaned at the whim of a human parent.
And do we not all, when we are aged and our flesh and mind
become frail, rely completely at the hands of our children, whom we raised,
whom we lifted in our arm, providing them strength only through our own
strength?
The poverty the Lord asks of us is that of reliance, that of
dependence. In that way, we are strong
only by the strength of God. Is not that
strength greater than our human poverty?
Yet were it not for our poverty, we might never obtain that strength.
