THIS IS PART FOUR OF A FIVE-PART SERIES IN WHICH WE WILL BE FURTHER UNPACKING THE CONCEPT OF RELATIONAL POVERTY. THIS IS THE FRAMEWORK WE USE AT CARE FOR AIDS TO DEFINE AND ADDRESS THE POVERTY THAT OUR CLIENTS EXPERIENCE AND THAT WE EXPERIENCE IN OUR OWN LIVES AS WELL.
This week, we are going to dive into what it means to have a healthy, balanced relationship with others.
As we saw last week in Genesis 3, immediately after their relationship with God and with self shifted for Adam and Eve, their relationship with each other also broke. Blame shifting in Genesis 3 quickly devolves into jealousy and murder in Genesis 4 (Cain and Abel), and our relationships with each other continue to cause strife and injustice throughout the rest of the story of humanity. It's a bit more obvious how a broken relationship with others can manifest in economic poverty - work that allows for economic flourishing necessitates community, and community is simply a network of trusting, healthy relationships between individuals.
At CARE for AIDS, our clients often experience a forced separation from others because of the stigma associated with HIV. This of course negatively impacts their ability to find fulfilling work, but it also over time impacts their view of themselves. Many of our clients experience devastating internalized stigma because of the years of community stigma and discrimination (see how all of these relationships are so intertwined!).
The way we address this in the CARE for AIDS program begins with group therapy. When clients enter the program, they see that they are not alone. Through participating in peer-led group therapy and savings groups, clients are reconnected to a community of peers who value each other and have reciprocal, mutually beneficial relationships. Healthy interpersonal relationships begin with the affirmation of everyone's inherent dignity- the affirmation that we are all made in the image of God.
In addition to allowing for fulfilling work, community greatly enhances our relationship with God. The analogy of the Trinitarian God as light has always resonated with me throughout the Bible (1 John 1:5, Isaiah 51:4, Habakkuk 3:4), so I am going to run with that analogy for a bit.
Our family room is my favorite space in our house. At almost every hour throughout the day, it is flooded with sunlight. While I was recently on maternity leave, Dallas (my now six-month-old) and I would sit in the family room every morning and he would gaze at the light glittering on the walls. When he was a few weeks old, I bought these little prisms that I could hang in the windows - when the light hits them it explodes into tiny rainbows that fill the room and dance on the ceiling all morning. It makes the whole room feel suddenly magical. The most familiar room in our house is transformed by these little rainbows, and they often draw my attention to the corners and part of the ceiling I would otherwise never pay attention to- I see the room in a whole new way a few times a day and it's so delightful (Dallas loves it too as you can imagine).
For those of us who have been Christians for years or decades, God can often feel as warm and familiar as sunlight. God brings comfort and beauty and we can settle into our knowledge of him like a cat napping in a warm sunspot. And that is lovely. I love this image of God because he feels so close and familiar. But this experience of God is a very individual experience- our personal relationship with him is of course extremely important, but as Westerners, we often only experience God in this hyper-personal way. What ancient Israel knew, and what many of our brothers and sisters in the Global South know, is that to truly experience God in community is to see new facets of His character and Glory. It's like shining light through a prism. Something so familiar becomes new and magical.
When I am in relationship with a thriving community of believers- particularly a community of diverse believers of different nationalities, races, genders, and backgrounds- I see different facets and characteristics of God that I wouldn't get to experience in a homogenous or purely individual faith setting. My attention is drawn to new areas of faith, and the mystery of the Gospel is made new for me again and again. Being in right relationship with others is magic. It reveals new things about ourselves and about God.
Next week, we will dive deeper into the theology of work and how our right relationships with God, self, others, and creation can come together to ultimately alleviate economic poverty.