22nd day of Lent- Proverbs 31:8-9

"Speak out for those who cannot speak for the rights of all the destitute.  
Speak out, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy." Proverbs 31:8-9

Crossroads Urban Center is a social service agency in Salt Lake City we support as a congregation.  They provide food and non-food items for those in poverty primarily in the downtown area.  But they also have an advocacy emphasis, believing that the poor need a voice and that the systems that lead to poverty need to change.  Over twenty years ago they organized CORC, the Coalition of Religious Communities, which is the group that goes to the Utah legislature and advocates for laws- or changes to laws, that directly impact the poor.  They act as a kind of conscience to the legislators, reminding them that the poor, too, are people in the community and that legislative action affects them.  Several members of our congregation and I have participated in "Lutheran Day on the Hill," sponsored by CORC.  Today's devotion by Curtis Kline addresses this aspect of poverty.  "Poverty is about lack of power.  It is the lived-out reality of the consequences of specific decisions and policies-locally, regionally, and globally.  In this sense, it is no coincidence that those segments of humanity suffering from hunger, thirst, inadequate health care and more are the very same that hold no voice and are marginalized by those who make the decisions."  CORC seeks to bring a voice to the poor.  Our ELCA hunger program also supports advocacy work in many of our synods, including in the states of Colorado and New Mexico, part of our Rocky Mountain Synod.  By "speaking out for those who cannot speak," we seek to build a more just world for all God's children.