No More Hunger

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action, crops, farming, food, food as a human right, food pantry, hunger, Isaiah, Matthew, Sisters of St. Joseph, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, thought into action

I’ve often said that in my next life I would like to be a farmer. My declaration is non-specific regarding the kind of farming I would hope to do. I am partial to cows but my heart soars at the sight of wheat fields, corn and other vegetables growing.  I haven’t really weighed the costs, physically and otherwise, that farming takes but I do admire farmers for their dedication and their goal of providing food for the hungry. I am often saddened these days upon hearing of the failure of crops and/or of farmers declaring bankruptcy. It is a hard life, to be sure, but one I value for its closeness to the earth, the rhythmic nature of the work and the products of the labor for the world.

This morning the prophet Isaiah predicts a time when everyone will have a feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines with God as the host of this meal. (IS 25:6) The gospel text contains Matthew’s telling of the multiplication of the loaves (MT 15:29-37). In conjunction with many other organizations, my province of the Sisters of St. Joseph has taken as a justice focus “food as a human right.” It is our hope and our goal that someday soon there will be a more just distribution of what experts say is the sufficiency of food that already exists in the world so that no one will die of hunger or lack the necessary nutrition to live a full life.

As I ponder the way I can ready my heart today to receive the fullness of Christ’s presence at Christmas I may need to visit a grocery store and then a food pantry as I think of the hungry people in my own town. I might look for the catalog I have received from Heifer International where I’m able to buy chickens or a share of a cow for a family who will then have milk and eggs and then might pass on the next generations of those animals to others who have nothing. I might strike up a conversation with someone today on the topic of hunger and the necessity of action and come home to write a letter to my government officials to support legislation of the same. We are all in this world together. We need to find ways to feed each other. Today is a good day to move thought into action.

All for One

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Corinthians, farming, garden, God, growth, Matthew 25 Farm, Paul, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

A photo of part of the 2013 harvest from the Matthew 25 Farm website.

Recently I read of an amazing project that has blossomed in Central New York, arising out of the increased need for food to stock pantries in the area. Two men became aware of the shortfall and had a dream for a farm to augment donations to the pantries with vegetables and fruit. They had no farming experience (although they were gardeners), no land, no money…but as they shared their dream, “the community embraced the idea” and they were “gifted with funds, land was donated and local farmers gave advice and help in the midst of their busy spring season.” The result was that, despite the weeds and some blight they were able to feed 40,000 from the yield. That was in 2009. If that were not edifying enough, the pictures of volunteers of all ages and groups in the years since (including busloads of students from Syracuse University Law School) convince me that team work really can save the world.

This morning, Paul is speaking to the Corinthians (1Cor 3:1-9), using a farming example to illustrate why the Matthew 25 Farm has been so successful. The inhabitants of Corinth are squabbling over which of their leaders is better, saying, “I belong to Paul” or “I belong to Apollos.” Paul sets them straight with the following images. “I planted,” he says, “Apollos watered, but God caused the growth. We are God’s co-workers; you are God’s field.”

Weeding, digging potatoes, harvesting corn and picking apples is hard work but you’d never know it from the smiles on the faces of those volunteers at Matthew 25. Doing for others is its own reward, especially when we do it together. And Paul’s last sentence is not to be missed either. If we are God’s field, we ought to make sure that we avoid getting all weedy and dried up. I think I’ll check on my moisture level today and the softness of my insides to see if I’m ready for those who might wish to help me grow in God’s name.

What Time Is It?

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farming, God, Hosea, injustice, justice, piety, time

Another farming image took my attention this morning. The last few lines in the first reading from Hosea (10:12) sounded so direct and immediate while speaking to the whole of the seasonal process that it was hard to ignore. Sow for yourselves justice, says the prophet, reap the fruit of piety; break up for yourselves a new field, for it is time to seek the Lord. Attentiveness to the needs of the world and actions for the same are two sides of the call to justice – a call to which we are all responsible. Piety is sometimes seen as a virtue closed in upon itself, often coupled with the word “personal” so it seems to ignore others in the quest for holiness. But personal piety, it seems to me if we define it as the dictionary does, speaks of reverence and devotion which cannot help but overflow into our relations with others and the world. How can we be reverent toward God, devoted to the work of God, if we are not aware that all is one in God? Thus, piety calls for justice and justice for piety, so that we do not give in to the frustration and anger that come with the recognition of injustice. Hosea seems to be saying, however, that we are to go beyond our present understandings now. Breaking up a new field says to me something like “the harvest is plentiful but laborers are few.” It’s the last line that makes the whole thing seem so urgent. It’s time, people! Get out there (or go in!) and seek the Lord! It’s a new time and we need to be new people. Dig deeper! Ramp up your reverence! It’s time now. It’s time.