God is in the slums

Wow, two U2 related post in two days. How lucky are you all? Bono spoke last Thursday at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington. Parker and I got to watch the replay on C-Span on Monday. The breakfast was attended by the President and First Lady and many members of Congress. Bono spoke about poverty and charity for the least of society, Africa AIDS and the One Campaign. Here's some of my favorite parts of his remarks

God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house…
God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives…
God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war…
God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and
God is with us if we are with them. “If you remove the yolk from your midst, the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness and your gloom with become like midday and the Lord will continually guide you and satisfy your desire in scorched places”

It’s not a coincidence that in the Scriptures, poverty is mentioned more than 2,100 times. It’s not an accident. That’s a lot of air time, 2,100 mentions. [You know, the only time Christ is judgmental is on the subject of the poor.] ‘As you have done it unto the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me.’ (Matthew 25:40). As I say, good news to the poor.

Here's the complete transcript.