Father, in your creation you have made us rich,

And yet we have made ourselves poor

  In our reluctance to credit others with value;

  In our failure to look beyond

     the material and accepted standards of our day;

  In our deafness to hear only the sounds

     that are pleasant to our ears;

  In our noise and busyness,

     failing to listen to the unuttered cries of hurt and pain;

  In our lifestyle, putting pleasure of palate

     before the real cost to individuals in another part of the world.

We live as though our well-being matters most

And because of that, the rest of creation suffers.

Father, forgive us.

Help us to visualize your values,

To appreciate your resources,

But above all to credit all humankind as members of the family,

Valuable and indispensable.

Rosemary Wass, English Methodist church leader

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Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?