Lately, the phrase I’ve chosen as the title of this column, “The midnight sighing of the poor,” has been running through my mind, especially when I hear of planned government cuts to programs designed to benefit those who are living at or below poverty level. This phrase is part of a longer Baha’i quote which I’ll share later. But, what scenarios it evokes, this “midnight sighing”: Midnight, in a dingy apartment where a single mother cannot sleep. She tosses restlessly on her narrow bed, finally sighing with exhaustion as she worries about how to feed her children until her next meager paycheck arrives. Midnight, in the living room of a large house where the ticking of the mantel clock intrudes upon the memories of the lonely widow as she recalls raising her children alongside her husband in this very house, this house which has become an oven in the summer heat because she cannot afford to run the air conditioner. Midnight, as the young immigrant father leaves his night-shift job and pedals his bicycle through the dark streets. It is not the darkness he fears, but the light of day. He sighs raggedly, wondering if he will arrive safely at work the next afternoon or be confronted by rough men wearing masks who will seize him, leaving his wife and children to wonder what became of him.
“O Children of Men! Tell the rich of the midnight sighing of the poor, lest heedlessness lead them into the path of destruction and deprive them of the Tree of Wealth. To give and to be generous are attributes of Mine; well is it with him who adorneth himself with My virtues.” – Baha’u’llah
A quick and easy internet search will yield some depressing statistics about poverty. Currently, 36-40 million of our fellow Americans are living in poverty. As always, racism plays its ugly part, with the poverty rate of Black Americans more than double that of non-Hispanic whites. Worldwide, about 700 million people live in extreme poverty (subsisting on the equivalent of $2 per day or less). In the U.S. the top 10 percent of the population owns about 70 percent of the country’s wealth, and according to OXFAM, the world’s top 1 percent owns more wealth than 95 percent of humanity!
Additionally, in today’s America, there are estimated to be almost 800,000 homeless people. Between 2023 and 2024, there was an 18 percent increase in the number of homeless Americans. There are about 150 million homeless people in the world, while 1.6 billion lack adequate housing.
“Know ye that the poor are the trust of God in your midst. Watch that ye betray not this trust, that ye deal not unjustly with them and that ye walk not in the ways of the treacherous.” – Baha’u’llah
There are many fine organizations whose members are working, with the best of motives, at the local, national and international levels to combat poverty, homelessness and related ills. Thank God for such groups; they are to be applauded. Baha’i teachings tell us, though, that these problems will not be eradicated until there is a fundamental restructuring of society.
In a profound statement called “The Prosperity of Humankind,” the Baha’i International Community has written, “Because the relationship between the individual and society is a reciprocal one, the transformation now required must occur simultaneously within human consciousness and the structure of social institutions. It is in the opportunities afforded by this twofold process of change that a strategy of global development will find its purpose.”
Other parts of this statement point out that the underlying materialistic assumptions that have traditionally guided those seeking to ameliorate economic disparity must be replaced by the realization that our fundamental nature is spiritual and not material, and that we must arrive at a new understanding of prosperity, an understanding that includes such things as human rights, the advancement of women, the overcoming of prejudices, universal literacy and health care and so much more.
While it is well beyond the scope of this column to share more of this extraordinary statement, it can easily be accessed by typing “The Prosperity of Humankind – Baha’i” into your search engine.
The dark times we are now going through are part of the process which will move us toward the next step in humanity’s evolution: the recognition of our true nature and of our oneness. Baha’u’llah said it this way: “The well-being of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established.”
Until such time, we will continue to be plagued with poverty and homelessness. Those of us who are able must step up to help those who’ve been left behind. To ignore the midnight sighing of the poor is to do so at our own spiritual peril.
Nancy Flood-Golembeck is a retired teacher and longtime member of the Baha’i faith. In addition to serving on the local Baha’i governing body, she is currently writing a memoir.
This article appears in August 28-September 3, 2025.
