The Poverty of Not Being Loved

What is the worst tragedy you have ever seen?

The tsunami in Thailand.
9/11.
The earthquake in Japan.
Hurricane Katrina.
The millions in this world enslaved against their will.
Extreme poverty.
HIV and AIDS.

All disasters. All tragic.

But there is a tragedy that occurs everyday all around us.
And not enough of us do anything about it.

In happens in Africa and Uganda.
In China and Asia.
Two places I have seen it within the last year.

But it also happens here in the United States.

It happens in your city and mine.
It happens downtown and it happens in the suburbs.
It happens at the bar late Saturday night.
And it happens Sunday morning at church.

It happens to the poor,
And it happen to the rich.
It happen to the young and old,
To the sick and the well.

It is the tragedy of not being loved.

photo by Juliano Mattos

Having witnessed more tragedies than the rest of us combined, Mother Teresa had this to say:

Abandonment is an awful poverty. There are poor people everywhere, but the deepest poverty is not being loved.

Although the tragedy is ubiquitous, the solution is just as available.

And of course, the solution is you.
For you and me to start loving.

We can reach out. We can notice others. We can hold their hand. We can laugh with them. We can cry with them. We can be a constant in a life where nothing else is.

I have heard it said that there is hunger in the world not because there isn’t enough food, but because those of us who have the food simply aren’t giving it to those who don’t have it.

The same goes with love.

Have you witnessed what happens when people aren’t loved? Have you been able to offer love to someone who needs it?

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