seeing a need--and filling it!

 


This past Saturday, the United States Postal Service held a food drive, collecting food to give to local area food shelves. With the advent of summer coming upon us and children being out of school, food is really needed during this time.
I found a blue plastic bag in my mailbox and put it to good use. As I filled it, I gave thanks for the bounty that I had and prayed for those who are in need. I set my bag out for pickup and then ran some errands. As I drove around my neighborhood, I was amazed. There was only one other mailbox  that had a blue bag sitting by it, awaiting pickup. My heart felt sad, for I thought of how easy the USPS made it for all of us--they gave out the bags, so no excuse was necessary that because one didn't have a bag handy, one could not give. All it would have taken was for each household to give one or two items to fill a food shelf.
There is a saying that goes the only one who knows about hunger, about pain, about struggle--is the one who has already experienced it. True...but all you need to do is to put yourself in the shoes of another to understand what hunger is. To open a cupboard and find little in it and no way to replenish it. Wouldn't you be scared? Especially if you have children! There are families for whom school lunch is the main meal for those kids...as I said before, with summer coming, they may not even have that to look forward to.
I have known hunger. I remember full well a rumbly tummy at 3 a.m. and not having enough to eat when I was a child. This was before the USDA food stamp program and my dad, who was a full time barber in the 60's and 70's, didn't make enough money to provide a banquet meal. Oh we had our three square meals, but each portion was carefully measured out. Still, it wasn't enough for growing kids. I remember taking apart my peanut butter and jelly sandwich, trying to decide if it would be better to eat the slice of bread that had the peanut butter first, or the jelly and then, slowly savoring it. My lunch at school I brought in a metal lunch box. It consisted of an apple or a banana, the sandwich and a thermos of milk. I watched as other kids had so much more: Oreos which they delightfully pulled apart and licked the white frosting off of first before they ate the cookie. They had small bags of chips, fruit, maybe a pudding cup or a juice box. I would look at my small meal and be grateful for what I did have, even as I watched much of my classmates' food go into the trash. How could they do that, I wondered. Just toss away good food?
That experience has taught me well, that even in this land of plenty, there are plenty who do not have enough.
Look around you. Jesus said that if you have two coats, to give one away. Same with food. There are many examples in the Bible of plenty being shared with those who don't have enough. Stories of the loaves and fishes....of Jesus admonishing those who listened that when we feed the hungry and clothe the nakes, visit the sick and the imprisoned...when we have done it for another, we have done it also for Him.
Today...look for need around you and fill it! Rejoice in your surplus...rejoice that you have enough to spare and be grateful for the chance to do so! Your heart will be filled to overflowing. That is just the Love of God spilling forth!
May the peace of God be with you always!