“…In a similar way we enter into solidarity with the poor when distinction between we and they no longer applies. The distinction breaks down and we are the poor, one among them.

We have, it is true, differing talents, life experiences, but the fundamental point is that we stand together as one, of one mind and heart in the midst of political, economic, and social structures that oppress. We approach the world with the same outlook. We approach it aware of our different backgrounds and roles, aware of our sinfulness, limitations, and weaknesses, but with mutual love and common cause.

The experience of God in this Way of Solidarity is the experience of the justice of God…We have freed ourselves from our superiority, our illusions, our discouragement and disillusionment, our guilt, and our romantic notions of the poor…It does not mean…that we pass beyond our struggles, sufferings, or are protected from misunderstandings and even persecution. But it does mean that we experience God saying to us: Blessed are you poor…for you shall see God.

…Like the enlightened one of Buddhism, we have returned to the market place. We experience a solidarity with the poor and with God. We may experience this only occasionally as a unity and peace at the core of our being, or we may be aware of this oneness more or less habitually. It is what directs our lives and actions, gives us energy, and expresses itself in an inner peace that is the consequence of a reconciliation within ourselves with the poor and with the God of the poor…Solidarity becomes the motive force of how we view the world and live within it, and of how we experience God.”

Ted Wiesner