Walking With The Poor Analysis

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Walking with the Poor by Bryant L. Myers

Clearly articulated throughout the book, “Walking with the Poor”, Myers focuses on the lack of spiritual perspective from most development assessments. Myers creates an excellent definition of poverty through compiling various authors’ visions of poverty: deficit, entanglement, a lack of access to social power, a diminished personal and relational well-being, a disempowering system, and a lack of freedom to grow. More simply stated, poverty is “the absence of shalom in all its meanings.” Poor people live in situations that encourage a valueless self-image where they are unable to contribute to the common good and lack hope for any change of their situation. Understanding poverty as a web of dysfunctional relationships, we are able to apply the Biblical story to all relationships (community, environment, religious, and self) and bring real transformation. When the poor are involved in their own transformation, the Biblical story is integrated into their personal history and results in community transformation.
Myers argues a holistic understanding of poverty through an inherently relational issue and encourages society to change its’ original reference in order to understand the impact on the individual, family and household as a whole. When a Christian response is based in truthfulness, righteousness, and justice, it is expressed through relationships (with God, the church, etc.). In essence, Myers believes transformational