The First Conversion is simply to orient ourselves somehow toward the poor. We may be prompted by some contact with them, or a book or workshop or sermon, or even some suffering within ourselves. The first conversion leads to the first stage or way, which Wiesner calls the Way of Appreciation. We serve in a soup kitchen or hospice, or do a service trip overseas. We observe people in need and are moved to compassion. If we allow ourselves to be shaped well in this stage, we are led to greater simplicity in our living. We discover Christ in the poor and by serving them, serve him.

The Second Conversion comes when we begin to feel anger over the structural and systematic conditions that oppress the poor. We realize that our efforts of kindness can be overwhelmed by larger forces. This stage may be experienced as a “dark night of the soul,” with accompanying paralysis in the face of vast injustice. This crisis may have bitter fruit, but it may also lead to what Wiesner calls the Way of Dialogue. No longer do we view the poor as simply recipients of our charity; we take seriously their viewpoints and begin to view their wisdom and capacity with great respect. We begin to join them in their struggle—both materially and spiritually.

The Third Conversion leads to the Way of Solidarity. In the first way we unconsciously placed ourselves on the pedestal in our charity; in the second way we stepped down and put those we serve in the place of honor. We began to see the poor as God’s favored ones. The crisis of the third conversion begins with our disillusionment with the poor themselves. Inevitably, they profoundly disappoint us. We are fighting for their rights; what are they doing getting drunk and blowing paychecks on televisions? At this point we wait. We wait for the grace of God to heal us from both our superiority and our disillusionment. “Damien du Veuster had worked on Molokai for twelve years,” Wiesner relates. “When, in 1885 at the age of 45, he began his sermon not with the usual ‘my dearly beloved,’ but with ‘we lepers,’ he entered into a new relationship with his people. In a similar way we enter into solidarity with the poor when the distinction between we and they no longer applies.’”

Quotes from Theodore Wiesner, “Experiencing God in the Poor” Spiritual Life, a Quarterly of Contemporary Spirituality, Volume 33, Number 4, Winter 1987 p. 213-221.

Scott Dewey
has family in Romania
hung out for 3 years in Bangkok slums, and loves going back
lives in a 110-year-old house in Denver
thinks about fishing most of the time