
On planet Earth, we are witnessing episodes of environmental catastrophes of enormous proportions. In Latin America, the floods in southern Brazil have caused incalculable damage. It is said that those of 2024 were worse than those of 2023.
The 124 km/h winds that recently hit Santiago de Chile did not cause as much devastation as in Porto Alegre, but they are unprecedented. They themselves serve as an excellent metaphor: on the least expected day, the wind can sweep away power, water, roofs, and people. Isn’t our very life exposed to similar gusts that make it difficult to remain standing? It’s not just about the weather. A virus, rising crime, large-scale mining, and new wars are ravaging communities, causing massive migrations. Artificial intelligence accelerates history. It will speed up our entry into a tunnel whose exit we cannot foresee.
Will the roots of Santiago’s trees withstand the cyclone of 2025? On what will we base our existence in the remainder of 2024? This is the radical question, equally valid for believers and non-believers.
It is worth asking, then: Is there a spirituality deep enough to anchor us to life, just as roots enable trees to withstand tornadoes? Is there a way of being that grounds us deeply in the cosmos, where stones and fire, air and water, living and inanimate beings, the rich and the poor, depend on one another? Is there a way for people of diverse religious and philosophical beliefs to bind together as one?
The answer is yes.
Human beings are spiritual individuals. We have the Spirit to co-belong and become co-responsible for the farthest galaxy and the sigh of the smallest atom. The same Spirit pushes back against ego and selfishness. The fate of the universe is a collective responsibility. The greatest poverty is having no one to rely on.
But, when everything is traced back to its origin, any human being brought into existence is poor. This very condition of poverty forms the stump from which branches emerge to withstand a life as difficult as the one slipping through our fingers. The poor person—whether economically impoverished, suffering due to health issues, homelessness, lack of work, or the loss of a spouse or children; the poor migrant, displaced person, or refugee; those living in tents or shacks by the train tracks; or even any of us, victims of our own inadequacies—must acknowledge that we are incapable of giving life to ourselves. Instead, we must be grateful for it. Grateful to Someone or Something. No one can rightfully say, “I deserve this.” Gratitude is the highest expression of spirituality. It is only comparable to the ashamed recognition of someone who boasted about conquering the land, wetlands, the best universities, and people to serve and fear them. Being rich is a sin. Sharing wealth is no virtue either. It is simply a duty.
The poor in spirit, as Jesus would say, have only God, for they have let go—or will let go—of what belongs to all of creation. Being poor can also be a sin, if one works or steals to become rich. But not when one does so to feed their children or to occupy land. The earth belongs equally to all.
Solidarity is the proof of authentic spirituality. There should be no other proof of God’s existence. Attention, theologians!
Radical spirituality, the inspiration to owe our lives to one another and coexist mutually, makes us better, binds us closely together, and fulfills us as people at the deepest level. One becomes truly someone by recognizing their dependence on others. Invoking eternal life is not alienating when eternity is anticipated among mortals as the triumph of a cosmic union.
Sharing the spiritual life of the poor is fundamental. They know they live on borrowed time and that existence gains meaning when they secure their daily bread. Wealth, on the other hand, isolates and disorients. It leads people into superficiality. In the end, it destroys the rich—says the Bible—and their accumulation destroys the poor.
Sharing is the theme. Sharing what we have and what we lack, and receiving as though we deserved nothing at all. This is the key to a new civilization: the civilization of gratitude that will surpass the civilization of entitlement.