The Pursuit of Happiness

Dorothy Day was the co-founder (1933) and publisher-editor of the Catholic Worker, a newspaper opposed to Communism and the excesses of free-market Capitalism. The newspaper inspired the Catholic Worker movement and the establishment of houses around the country serving the poor and social justice activists. I joined the movement in 1971 after I got out of the Army and have been, in varying degrees, involved since then.

Day has been criticized for saying, “There are two things you should know about the poor. They tend to smell bad and they are never grateful.” What critics miss is that Day wasn’t morally judging the poor. She was simply stating facts from her everyday experience of being poor and living among them.

A related phrase is “no good turn goes unpunished.” A year ago, I rented a sweet little house to a young couple with no credit history and spotty work records. I had plenty of better applicants but decided to give the kids a break. I knew it was a mistake at the time, but… well, you know.

Their always late rent invariably arrived with spectacular stories of misfortune. I could live with that, but then mountains of trash started to fill the yard, windows were broken, and in typical Ozarky fashion, four dead pickups arrived and got planted on what was once a tidy lawn in an otherwise tidy neighborhood. No plea, threat, or parental advice changed their behavior. By the time I get through the eviction process I’ll be out 3,000 bucks and two weeks of free time.

The next tenant will be a safe and conventional choice. I suspect most people would agree that a) that’s the right thing to do, and b) I’m obviously a slow learner.

Unfortunately, there is a “c)” option as well. Dorothy Day did what she did because she loved God, and knew God expected her to love Him by serving the poor, however ungrateful or undeserving. I know that about God too, and believe it to be true. But the answer to c) is that I love money more than I love God.

That’s why Day’s a Saint and I’m a landlord.