Mark 14:7 · World English Bible
Mark 14:7 Meaning For You Always Have the Poor
For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want to, you can do them good; but you will not always have me.
What does Mark 14:7 mean?
The poor who are always present are the endless forms of lack the world will keep offering, the constant appearance of need that a mind in time can address whenever it turns to them. There is no scarcity of occasions to do good, for the dream of want renews itself daily.
From the Christian Psychology reading below.
Mark 14:7 through 1 lens
The same verse, read by one tradition.
Christian Psychology
CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY
Christian Psychology
The poor who are always present are the endless forms of lack the world will keep offering, the constant appearance of need that a mind in time can address whenever it turns to them. There is no scarcity of occasions to do good, for the dream of want renews itself daily. But the presence of love in its fullness is not a standing feature of the world; it is a moment the mind must meet when it is given, and cannot postpone as though it would wait.
To honor love when it appears, rather than defer it to a more convenient hour, is to recognize that some openings do not return once the mind has let them pass.
The poor: the endless forms of lack the world keeps offering, the appearance of need that a mind in time can always address
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Live Mark 14:7 today
- When the thought of someone crosses your mind today, do the small thing right then, send the message, make the call, instead of filing it under later. Later is where most kindness goes to die.
- If someone starts talking to you while you are mid-task, give them your face and your eyes for the length of what they are saying. The task will still be there, and this version of them will not be.
- Under pressure, when you catch yourself saying you will deal with a person once this week calms down, pick one of them and take two minutes now instead. The week will not calm down.
What good have I been quietly postponing until a better hour arrives?
The same truth in other traditions
Zen
A student asks when the right time to practice is, and the teacher says the moment you are standing in. Need will be here tomorrow, but this particular opening is not a thing you can hold in reserve.
Tao Te Ching
The sage acts when the moment ripens and does not force what has passed. Timing is not a small part of doing good, it is most of it.
Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius
You could leave life this very moment, so let that decide what you do now. Nothing can be put off to a self that may not arrive.
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