Food, Eating, Hunger

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fasting, food as a human right, gratitude, healthy, hunger, miracle, modern medicine, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today I suspect my thoughts will frequently turn to hunger. The Sisters of St. Joseph, Albany Province, have been focusing on “food as a human right” for some time, being mindful of those who have little or no food and working at both systemic and local solutions to this problem. In my life there is never a problem in finding food; if I don’t have it, I have the means to purchase it – both availability in nearby grocery stores and the money and transportation needed to access it. I am preparing, however, for a routine colonoscopy tomorrow – not a pleasant thought, but an experience I have come to value for several reasons that allows me to put a positive spin on what lies ahead in the next 36 hours – a retreat of sorts…My reflections are listed below:

1. I live in a place where “the miracle of modern medicine” is a constant and access to healthcare a privilege I enjoy.
2. I consider it a responsibility to keep my body as healthy as I can and welcome the opportunity to eliminate toxins and be reminded to begin again to eat in a healthy and mindful way.
3. I live with Sisters whose support includes the willingness to see to my needs (and I to theirs), particularly tomorrow for one of them in accompanying me and spending several hours in the hospital with me.
4. The reality of physical hunger which I may only assuage with liquids or (happily!) jello leads me to reflect and join in solidarity with those who regularly experience a  lack of food.
5. Moving to the spiritual level of interpretation, I will need to trust my physician (as I have for many years and still do) to perform the procedure flawlessly and my body to cooperate.
6. Lastly, I hope to remain conscious of and pray for all those who hunger for a better life both physically and spiritually, for belonging, for love and/or for a sense of God in their lives. All of this, then, becomes an opportunity for gratitude.

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.