And there was a certain beggar, named Lazarus. I think it is both curious and important that the rich man is not in fact named, but the beggar is. I take it Jesus means that the rich man is every single one of us. He is Everyman, all of us who have anything whatsoever. Possessions are anonymous, whereas charity is personal and individual.
Misery has a name.
It is particular, not abstract, and its claim on us is specific and immediate. It is all too easy for us to become sentimental, and weep about the pitiable condition of humanity. Our condition is indeed pitiable and wretched, but it is not possible for us to cure misery at large, to eradicate wholesale the troubles in Washington, Los Angeles, Serbia, or Savannah. Preoccupation with corporate misery can distract our minds and harden our hearts to the particular and perhaps very unattractive claim on our specific kindness, especially when it is lying in an unappetizing form on our front doorstep. Shakepeare's King Lear discovers this in the storm center of his life.