and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday." Isaiah 58:10
And Jesus said, "You are the light of the world." Matthew 5:14
It was dark when I woke up this morning. It's early February. We live on the shady side of the Wasatch Mountains in Salt Lake City. The first thing I needed to do when I awoke was to turn on a light so I could see. When the light shines, darkness flees. Hunger is a darkness for many people living in poverty in our country, and for millions of people around the world. As Bishop James Dunlop reminds us in the devotion today, this is especially true for children and their mothers. On the global scale, the solutions seem complicated and overwhelming. But on the personal scale, it's not that complicated, at least for me and those of us who have plenty to eat each day. "And if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness." It is to have a compassionate heart. It is to see the needs around us. It is to respond to those needs in ways that we are able. It is to bring light in the darkness.
In our congregation, we recently did a food collection contest, placing bags of groceries in bins for the team we thought most likely to win the super Bowl, Denver or Carolina. (Denver won both the game and our food collection!) Our Rocky Mountain Synod challenged the Carolina Synods to give gifts to ELCA World Hunger in a similar way and raised just over $70,000 in less than two weeks. Amazing! Throughout Lent, our congregation hopes to raise an additional $2500 for World Hunger. We are currently collecting school supplies for Rivers of Mercy orphanage in Juarez, Mexico, a small non-profit that is now feeding and caring for 44 children. I could list many other examples. In these and many other ways we can bring light to the darkness of hunger. In what ways do you "spend yourself" on behalf of the hungry? Are there ways you could do more? Thanks for all you do.
While world hunger seems to be an overwhelming challenge, I appreciate this devotion and scriptural encouragement of how we, as individuals, can make a difference: more monetary donations, more food into the collection barrel, cut back on personal provisions in order to add to the support of others, be alert to opportunities daily. Small commitments can join together to make a BIG difference.
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