THE vow of poverty was at one time considered an effectual step toward the attainment of holiness, and even now a belief seems to linger that unsatisfactory economic conditions, deprivations, joylessness, or gloom, may be signs of spiritual progress. This belief probably arose from Jesus' words, "How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!"
A superficial view of the parable about Dives and Lazarus may also make it appear as if the latter were rewarded for his wretchedness, want, and sores. In this connection it is well for us to remember, however, that Jesus called attention to the lilies, the care-free flowers of the field, which exhibit a supply of luxuriance, although serving no utilitarian purpose. They yield neither food nor any other useful product, but they do exhibit a fulness and variety of beauty which seems to refute the idea that drab drudgery is anything like the intention of infinite Love, to whom belong "the cattle upon a thousand hills" and who clothes with beauty the grass and flowers.
As if to elucidate his meaning, Jesus reiterated his thought in an altered form: "How hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!" that is, to gain harmony. It is the trust reposed in riches, material possessions, worldly assets, that shuts us out from spiritual peace. The pursuit of happiness through the gratification of a material sense of life so engrosses the thought that the true sense is kept in abeyance, the spiritual sense is starved, and the only possible avenue of happiness is neglected.
