A Well Prepared Table

 

 

"Give us this day our daily bread..."

We did our weekly grocery shopping today. It is never lost on me how blessed we are to live in a country of such bounty. For many years now, people visiting from other countries are amazed with the breadth, depth and variety of foods in our super markets. The options appear endless. Foods from the our local economy, from other parts of the country, from other parts of the world. To some, our immense bounty would border on opulence.

We are not only blessed to have access to many vast super markets, my wife and I have also been blessed to have enough resources to buy the food we need. However, that is not the case with everyone. For those who grocery shop on a regular basis, most have seen recent prices go up and up and up. People who live on a limited income, any increase in food prices comes at a very high cost. To further complicate things, there are the politics that surround the very controversial Farm Bill - in particular the SNAP (food stamps) portion.

I really wish things were the way things use to be. At one time, neighbors took care of neighbors, friends took care of friends, families took care of families. The messy aspects of government management never had to come into play. My wife and I have been involved in very large food collections at churches we have attended. Many of the food drives were huge, but not big enough. We only put a dent in the growing need. People who work at the shelters are on the "front lines" - they see the real truth. On this issue we cannot be pejorative - people are hurting; people are hungry.

Of all the ministries I have been involved in, I am most passionate about food. Even though we do not have people starving in this country, the fact we have people going to bed hungry  is inexcusable. This needs to be fixed, and fixed by us. Transferring this duty to our government has not worked well. It has resulted in a broken system. It really is up to us. It is up to us to truly be our "Brother's Keeper".

In becoming involved in our new church, I will be looking for opportunities to serve the hungry that live among us. We need to make sure all of us have a well prepared table. Let us leave no person from the feast. In this season of Thanksgiving, lets make sure all, all shall be fed. Once we take care of our American brothers and sisters, we cannot forget the one billion people who are starving or malnourished outside our borders. They too, deserve a well prepared table.