Spiritual and Physical Poverty

This past weekend this quote was on my mind "The spiritual poverty of the Western World is much greater than the physical poverty of our people” - Mother Teresa 

 I was thinking about this in 2 contexts:
-Saturday I watched the movie Blue Like Jazz, in which I heard this quote for the first time. And I began to think about the spiritual emptiness here in America
-Sunday my church had a presentation about the needs of Africa. And I began to think about the needs of the world

So this quote was on my mind and I began to compare and contrast the needs of America and the needs of the rest of the world. Thinking about that quote and thinking about the spiritual poverty in America and the physical poverty and needs of the world at the same time really put things in perspective.
It gave me a better perspective of both needs, the needs of the world and the needs of people right here in America.

Mother Teresa went on to say: “You, in the West, have millions of people who suffer such terrible loneliness and emptiness. They feel unloved and unwanted. These people are not hungry in the physical sense, but they are in another way. They know they need something more than money, yet they don't know what it is.“What they are missing, really, is a living relationship with God.”

I think this is so very true, we have so much here in America, but yet we are such lonely people. We have religion, theology, knowledge and everything, but yet we lack the simplicity of  a living relationship with God so many times.
The people in poverty in the rest of the world have none of the material possessions we have, but yet can seem so much happy in such simplicity.

There are still definitely legitimate needs in the rest of the world, in Africa alone is where 95% of all HIV/AIDS cases are. Having such a simple thing as clean water is still a foreign thing to many people of Africa. The death rate of children in africa is now greater than the birth rate. There are legitimate needs there and we need to step up and help. This continent alone needs so much help. And all the other issues around the world, in India, in South America, Europe, Asia.

But I think when we should more often compare and contrast the spiritual poverty of America to the physical poverty of the world. Because when we do this, I think we see both issues more clearly. Being aware of the physical needs of the world makes me more passionate about the spiritual needs of America. And the spiritual needs of America make me more aware and passionate about the physical needs of the world. 

In the Western World I see so much stuff, so much wealth, so much technology, I see so much. But yet we are so un-grateful and so lonely and empty still
In the rest of the world I see so little stuff and so many needs. But yet so much gratitude, happiness and spiritual wealth at times.