If you were given a choice of being rich or being poor, which would you choose? Some of us may go for being rich, thinking that riches would help us be comfortable and happy. Also, some may say that riches enable them to be without worry. Others may choose to be poor, thinking that poverty enables them to live simple lives, going back to basics and perhaps living off the land. But regardless of whether we choose to be rich or poor, does it really help us spiritually?
In today's reading, we discover a choice which transcends or goes beyond the need to be rich or poor. In the reading: "keep falsehood and lies far from me, give me neither poverty nor riches, grant me only my share of bread to eat, for fear that surrounded by plenty, I should fall away and say, 'the Lord – who is the Lord?' or else, in destitution, take to stealing and profane the name of my God." Seeking to be rich or seeking to be poor does not satisfy us completely, since either way, our desires will never be fulfilled. As the reading says: "grant me only my share of bread to eat." We also recite a similar request in the Lord's Prayer when we say: "Give us this day our daily bread." In this way, we are contend with what we have each day; there is no need for more or less.
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