A National Crisis
Care for people the way you want to be cared for and honor the LORD with your wealth. -The Most High God
This week is national Hunger Awareness Week. Ironic that it comes the week before Thanksgiving right? Thanksgiving is a holiday that allows us time off from most obligations and allows most people to feast stress free. The macaroni and cheese will flow like milk and honey in Jerusalem. Many will find themselves feasting for at least 24 hours, with not one thought of those who are less fortunate. Isn’t it unnatural to think about those who suffer, while one indulges in pleasures galore? Should the Christian have a kind of apathetic tunnel vision that blinds them to reality? Physically, most of us will be surrounded by family and indulging in some comfort. But, consciously, will we think about those who don’t have food, shelter, or family? As the great Dr. King once said, “Surely it is unchristian and unethical for some to wallow in the soft beds of luxury while others sink in the quicksand of poverty.” How can we, Christians, who live in America continually overlook the plight that plagues the entire world? Must we only let our lights shine through preaching, teaching, and missions? Jesus the Christ prophesied that the poor will always be amongst us. Is this true because we’ve learned to live with the plight, or is it true because our love for neighbors continues to float away like driftwood in the ocean wave?
Should the Christian have a kind of apathetic tunnel vision that blinds them to reality?
America produces 350 billion pounds of food every year. Of this number, 100 billion pounds are wasted every year. Food that could nourish the bodies and souls of children. Children. No man should suffer poverty, but how long will we tolerate the slow agonizing death of children? These children learn to starve before they learn to walk or call upon their mother. This is a national crisis that we can address using resources that we waste or dollars that we won’t miss. Gustavo Gutiérrez eloquently said, “Poverty is not fate, it is a condition; it is not a misfortune, it is an injustice. It is the result of social structures and cultural categories.” Now, there is a great temptation to adopt theories which free us from painful responsibilities. We can shrug and look the other way. But, may the fact that 22,000 children die everyday due to poverty haunt your conscience. May the fact that 24 percent of the world live on less than $3.20 a day and 44 percent on less than $5.50 a day. What would you want someone to do if these words described your life?
These children learn to starve before they learn to walk or call upon their mother.
I hope these words prick your conscience; and, thoughts of this national crisis become as inescapable as light. I hope you let thoughts of injustice invigorate you to flame the fire of awareness. We can only begin to change something, once we are aware that it needs changing. And what does gaining awareness cost you? Do NOT forget the Living God will one day ask you, “When I was hungry, did you feed me?” Will you be able to respond with an answer or only mutter excuses?
“Hunger is not a problem. It is an obscenity. How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”
