What did He mean?

One of my favorite all time movies is; 'The Princess Bride.' Jim Kingsburry a long time friend and missionary, turned me on to this classic years ago.

The movie has a ton of great one liners like;
'stop that rhyming and I mean it!' 'Does anyone want a peanut?'
'have fun storming the castle!'
'maybe he's not using the same wind we are using?'

Among the numerous funny dialogue scenes is the exchange between Vizzini, a Sicilian man of genius and Montoya the Spaniard who was known for his swordsmanship, who together with the giant Fezzik had kidnapped the fiance of prince Humperdink who wanted to blame Guilda, the land across the sea in order to start a war.

There you go, that's about as geeky as I plan on being (for now).

Vizzini kept using the word 'inconceivable' when answering any one's questions regarding whether the three of them would be successful in their kidnapping of the princess. After one of the many times he said 'inconceivable' and having not been questioned about his word usage before, Montoya said; 'That word you keep using, I don't think it means what you think it means.'

On another note.

Long ago in a time of rampant and obvious poverty, a time not so different than our own present realities where the poor are in need of great assistance, there was a women who for the love of a dear and trusted friend used an expensive ointment to wash his feet. The act while a sincere portrayal of gratitude and fidelity was viewed by an observer with a thief's heart, as waste.

And so he protested; 'Why wasn't this ointment sold for three hundred denarii (a years wage) and given to the poor?'

With the fragrance filling the room the woman's friend, who is my friend and your friend as well, said; 'the poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. '

What did He mean?

If you are in the work of serving within the river of the human condition, I guarantee you've encountered and pondered this verse which can be found in all four Gospels. Personally, I often have this verse quoted to me when I'm speaking about ending or at least (somebody please) reducing poverty and poverty causing realities like homelessness.

Comes the quick witted response; 'Well Dan, you know Jesus said, the poor you will have with you always.'

I will confess, somewhere between my blood boiling when I hear that sentiment and my heart aching over the ill effects of unchecked poverty I manage to summon the answer; Whatever He meant, I don't think He meant what we think He meant.

News flash: Even reasonable observation would suggest His statement certainly wasn't a blanket insurance policy that covers us for the head on collision we're having with poverty.

Furthermore, I don't think with hundreds of references in the Bible related to poverty and the poor, Jesus was somehow signing our perpetual hall pass when it comes solving, not fixing the systemic and rooted causes of poverty.

I believe we can say with certainty though, His statement about the ever existence of the poor was qualitative, not quantitative. While we may always have people within our community that need food, clothing and shelter (qualitative) does there have to be so many? (quantitative).

Here's today's question: Have you considered what your next decision would entail if you became intolerant of poverty?

Next week's post: The smooth finish of wrong things.

Making a Dent,
Dan