Growing up I was always taught that with hard work anything is possible. Our lives were not determined by our origin or the circumstances of our birth. That is at the heart of the American dream - equal opportunity and possibility for all. It is at the heart of the message which I try and instill in my students here in the Bronx. A recent study of brain differences between rich and poor children by the University of California – Berkley shows that while opportunity may exist for all, we all don’t come from equal starting points. There may in fact be a cycle to poverty.

In an article with some disturbing observations, perhaps none is more disturbing than the comparison of the EKG results between rich and poor kids: Kids from lower socioeconomic levels show brain physiology patterns similar to someone who actually had damage in the frontal lobe as an adult.” In other words, poor children, by virtue of the circumstances of their growing up poor, exhibit signs of actual, physical brain damage. Study authors note, “It's not just that these kids are poor and more likely to have health problems, but they might actually not be getting full brain development from the stressful and relatively impoverished environment associated with low socioeconomic status: fewer books, less reading, fewer games, fewer visits to museums."

That there may in fact be a cycle to poverty, where growing up poor limits success later in life, has implications for the Christian community which is tasked with caring for the poor. It is not simply enough to expect that people in poverty will be able to pull themselves out of their own poverty. With its strong history of being leaders in education, the Lutheran church stands well poised to provide early intervention among poor children, an intervention which researchers believe can make a difference in improving brain function among poor children. To break the cycle of poverty may mean moving beyond merely providing food and shelter and educational training for adults. In fact, the Berkley study seems to show that focusing on educating poor adults, addresses the problem a decade or more too late. The solution to ending poverty’s cycle may lie in churches creating educational outreach programs for the poor in their neighborhoods. Such an approach gets beyond political arguments over welfare and welfare reform, and goes to the heart of the matter – giving children, God’s children, opportunities to succeed in life.