By Craig Westhoff

We have to realize, we all have need. 

Quoting the late German theologian Johanne Metz; 

At the core of our existence, a “transcendental neediness” holds sway. We are all beggars. We are all members of a species that is not sufficient unto itself. We are all creatures plagued by unending doubts and restless, unsatisfied hearts. Of all creatures, we are the poorest and the most incomplete. Our needs are always beyond our capacities, and we only find ourselves when we lose ourselves.¹

I wonder if the losing and the finding of ourselves is primarily and continually experienced in the acknowledgment and admission of our transcendental neediness? 

When we as people who happen to be called leaders do all we can, from the disciplines to the discipling, the praying and the planning, the initiatives, systems and campaigns, goals and expectations, and that felt sense of profound neediness seems to still linger, or even increase all the more, the doubts, the restless and unsatisfied heart…I can’t  help but think…WHAT is the hidden message in that? Is that  something to run from or into?  

Could it be a simple reminder that we hate being reminded of? The reminder that I… you…we are actually in need. And what if it’s ok to be in need, to have this inherent poverty of spirit, to admit it? And what if what we are really after can be found, hidden, right there in our need?  

Jesus encouraged us to FIRST seek the kingdom in Matthew 6:33. Could it be that our recognized and accepted state of need is the perfect position from which to do that seeking? AND…finding!  

What if the acknowledgement of our transcendental neediness is part of the very act of seeking first His kingdom, a kingdom that already belongs to those in need, the poor in spirit. And apparently it’s a happy admission.  

Blessed (or better said) Happy are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.²

As Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister puts it;

Indeed, happy are those who  realize their own limits, weaknesses, need for support, and dependence on God. Emptied of themselves they see the goodness in others. They are able to speak the truth in humility. They realize their own powerlessness and God’s greatness and the basic goodness of the world around them.

What if a source of our occasional or chronic unhappiness is simply us not wanting to realize our own limits, weaknesses, need for support, and dependence upon God? 

Happy are the very empty ones who are helpless to do anything about it. ³

When’s the last time you didn’t bemoan your weakness, but boasted about it? And in so doing, the power of Christ rested upon you? As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:9, a Greek translation reads; 

Whole and complete are those who live with a sense of dependence and vulnerability; the will of God is present in their lives. 

Q? What might it look like for you to choose to live with a sense of dependence and vulnerability? How does it feel?  

I like to put it this way; Happy are you who admit you have need, a sense of absolute dependence upon God, for you truly know who you are and who God is, and you will find rest in this knowing of God, and yourself in God, and the kingdom will rest in you. For yours IS the kingdom.  

Q? What patterns of seeking do you notice within yourself… patterns of dependence? Who or what do you find yourself depending on? 

If I’m honest, I often find myself depending on me, my strengths, my  personality, my self-discipline, and on occasion, a nice Cabernet. I even find  myself as a leader depending on me depending on Jesus really well.  As my wife puts it, “Having faith in your own faith,” which is of another spirit other than poverty of spirit. 

But, somewhere in there, in all of us I believe, is also the desire to solely depend on Jesus.  And in this poverty of spirit, whatever we receive is All Gift, as Saint Ignatius taught – All is Gift.⁴ From the material to the spiritual. From the fruit of the Spirit to the fruit in your fridge. Truly All is Gift…and to receive it as such I must acknowledge the reality that I am in need.  

In the final analysis, according to Johanne Metz, we have one of two choices: to obediently accept our innate poverty or to become the slave of anxiety.⁵

The anxiety and angst brought on by fighting and resisting the reality of our innate poverty is something I am very familiar with. It took me years and a complete mental and emotional meltdown to be laid out, back to the ground, to get to a true confession of my own poverty of spirit. 

So, what if we ask God to help us, yet again,  just as you and I did when we first gave our lives to  Christ… to help us acknowledge and accept our innate poverty, our need of and for Him, and in so doing, find His kingdom right there…without and within.  

I have need. 

Say it. Feel it. What is your visceral reaction? Anger? Confusion?  Peace? Wonder? What thoughts and or images come to mind when you say, I have need? 

King David had no problem acknowledging and admitting his need.

As for me, since I am poor and needy, let the Lord keep me in his thoughts. You are my helper and my savior. O my God, do not  delay.⁶

Quoting Metz again; 

All the Great experiences of life – freedom, encounter, love, death – are worked out in a silent turbulence of an impoverished spirit.⁷

Richard Rohr suggests that life inevitably leads us to a place where we can’t fix, control, explain or understand. Jesus calls this poverty of spirit. 

So, we pray; 

Jesus, you emptied yourself and became poor and needy. 
Share with me now your poverty of spirit. 
I confess, I have need.  
Here’s where I am empty. 
This is my need.

I bless your need.  
I bless your emptiness.  
Yours is the kingdom.

Perhaps you’d like to consider how a spiritual director might be a trusted guide who could accompany you on your journey of faith. If you’d like to have a conversation with us to explore what this might look like, please contact us and we will follow up with you. Contact us here: Soul of the Shepherd.

1.  Poverty of Spirit. Written by Johannes Baptist Metz, a German Catholic theologian, it was first published in 1968 and republished thirty years later. ↩︎
2.  Matthew 5:3 
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3.  Matthew 5:3a – My emphasis via word choices that still honor the spirit of the text I believe. ↩︎
4.  This is a well known quote of Ignatius and a foundational way of seeing everything and everyone. ↩︎
5. Poverty of Spirit – Metz, 1968 / 1998
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6.   Psalm 40:17 ↩︎
7.  Poverty of Spirit – Metz, 1968 / 1998 ↩︎