Poor, Sick, and Still Happy?

Q: How can a poor and sick person serve Hashem with joy?

A: How can a poor and sick person — we’ll leave out the sick person for the time being; let’s first study a poor person — how can he fulfill “Ivdu es Hashem b’simchah — Serve Hashem with joy” (Tehillim 100:2)?

This poor man — I’ll make you happy, let’s say he’s sick now, too; he’s poor and sick — anyway, he has to go to a specialist to cure his sickness. Even a kindhearted specialist takes $350. So this poor man asks if the doctor takes Medicaid, and the answer is no. The receptionist tells him it’s cash or nothing, so he pays the $350. Now, suppose the specialist figures out exactly what’s wrong with him, and the poor man goes home cured. He’s still poor, but he’s not sick anymore. How will he feel on the way home? He’ll be singing all the way home. He’ll be walking on the clouds! He’ll be so happy with that specialist that he’ll worship him! He’ll send a card to him every year. People do that.

Of course, it never works that fast. Even if a specialist does guess the correct diagnosis, the cure is so gradual that by the time it’s effective, the man regrets giving the specialist the $350. But if he’s convinced that it happened through the specialist, he’s grateful. So here’s a poor man who’s so happy he’s delirious.

Now, suppose this poor man never became sick in the first place — shouldn’t he be just as happy? On the contrary, he’s $350 richer! So here is a chance for a poor man to be happy.

You asked about a poor, sick man, so let’s say he remains sick; after visiting the specialist, he remains sick. But he also has a toothache. The poor, sick man has to go to the dentist. His tooth is hurting him something awful, he tells the dentist, so the dentist gives him something to soothe the pain, or he pulls out the tooth, and now the pain is gone. This man goes home happy. He’s still poor, and he’s still sick, but now he can sleep at night — now, he’s full of joy.

Let’s say he’s a poor, sick man with a toothache. Even then, he has cause to be happy. It’s better to be a poor, sick man in New York than a poor, sick man in [communist] Moscow. Suppose there’s a poor, sick man who’s suddenly able to emigrate from Moscow to New York. That man would be walking on clouds, despite his poverty and his sickness.

Therefore, there isn’t a person in the world who doesn’t have cause to be happy. The Mesilas Yesharim says there isn’t a human being in the world who doesn’t have cause — whether he’s well or ill, rich or poor — to be abundantly grateful. One of the biggest reasons for gratitude is the fact that he’s still alive! This poor, sick man is trying his best to stay alive, isn’t he? The fact that he’s still alive is a very great happiness.

When people fail to feel grateful under all circumstances, it’s nothing but a lack of thought.