When I first started working with the ELCA World Hunger program, I couldn’t eat when I was at work.  Not because I didn’t have food, or because I wasn’t hungry.  After reading, thinking and talking about world hunger at work, I just felt terrible that I had food in the refrigerator, and so many others did not.  Granted, I was not working full time here, so for me it was merely a once-a-week reminder of what an empty stomach felt like.  But really, when was the last time you were actually hungry?  For many of us, the clock dictates when we eat rather than our stomachs.  And the array of food choices we have are amazing.  It’s not a question of IF, but WHAT we will eat.

I was reflecting this last week on Jesus’ parable about the Good Samaritan. The parable is a beautiful and surprising call to act on behalf of those who are in need, irrespective of race or creed. What I especially like about the parable is that when the expert in the law asks, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus completely changes the frame of reference. Rather than answering who, Jesus tells the expert how. The Samaritan exemplifies love of neighbor in his unfettered and extravagant care for a person in need. He transcends historic prejudices to bring healing, at no small expense to himself.

Augustine offers a curious interpretation of this parable. He allegorizes nearly every detail in the story—the man is Adam, the three robbers are the devil and the devil’s angels, the man is left dead in sin, the Samaritan is Christ, the inn is the Church (and Paul is the innkeeper!) and so on. I’ve always felt that Augustine’s elaborate interpretation revealed more about his brilliant mind than the intent of the parable. In fact, I wonder if his theological bent actually mitigates the force of the story—instead of hearing the call to “go and do likewise,” our attention is drawn to the activity of God. While reflecting on the goodness of God is not a bad thing, I worry that an interpretation like that of Augustine could lull us into complacency and inactivity.

But perhaps Augustine’s interpretation is not so sinister. The reality is that it is difficult to truly love and serve even people that we like, let alone those for whom we don’t have a natural affinity. Augustine reminds us of the grace of God revealed in the Christ event, that transformative power that enables us to live out the call to love our neighbors, both near and far, in the same way that we love ourselves.

David Creech

Tomorrow night my wife is hosting (and participating in) a benefit concert for the Millenium Development Goals (if you live in the Chicago area and are interested in joining us, check out the website here). As we were talking about her event over coffee, she asked me how I would talk about the MDGs. I think my top two talking points are raising awareness of the enormity of hunger and poverty and stressing the Christian call to respond. She did not like either idea. The statistics are too depressing and bringing faith into the discussion may turn some people off, she reasoned. So this got me thinking. We all have different backgrounds and experiences, and respond differently pressing issues. I know what motivates me to action, what motivates you? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

I think I can fairly say that the loss of biodiversity in the world is something the media reports regularly. We hear about polar bears and how many other animals face extinction. We hear about how much rain forest is being cut down each day and what a loss that presents not only for the animals and plants that live there, but also the future of pharmaceutical discovery.

What I personally have heard less about is the loss of crop diversity. Here’s something I came across today on the Web site of the Global Crop Diversity Trust: “…of the 7100 varieties of apple cultivated in USA 100 years ago, 6800 have disappeared forever.”

We’re down to 300 varieties of apples here. That’s nearly a 96% drop! Of something we eat! They also say that about 165,000 crop varieties (all types of food) are currently endangered. It’s not boding well for food security in the world.

The Global Crop Diversity Trust site gives several reasons that crop diversity is dropping, and one of them is climate change. Rising temperatures and drought are not helpful to many crops, especially in places that already trend toward the hot and dry.

There are lots of ways that climate change affects hunger in the world. Killing off the things we eat is the most direct one I’ve considered.

I’ve heard the statistic several times before: about 24,000 people die every day from hunger or hunger related diseases. I knew that translated into about one death every 3.6 seconds, or about the time it takes an adult to take a deep breath (if you have not already, check out this multimedia presentation on the ELCA World Hunger website). That is a scary thought. Here’s another way to see it–this next year, nearly 9 million people will die of hunger or a hunger related disease. That’s one and a half times the number of Jews killed in the Holocaust. In one year. When faced with the horror of the Holocaust, the aptly named “Confessing Church” in Germany stood up against the powers and structures that allowed such an atrocity. Will the Church today follow their example?

I was planning on posting on water today. While I was perusing the web, I came across this excellent slideshow (with audio) and an accompanying brief article. Both deserve some time. Several points are noteworthy and I will mention two. First, waterborne illnesses, which according to their figures affect 2 million people annually (this is probably an underestimate), are preventable. All that is needed is access to clean water, and we have the technology to either move or purify water relatively cheaply (if you have not done so already, check out what the ELCA World Hunger did in Peru for only $7,000). Second, even for those who have access to clean water, very often that water is miles away. It is usually the women who are responsible for the gathering of water. There is a tragic picture in the slideshow of a four year old girl with a large bucket on her head, on her way to fetch water. She will fetch water instead of going to school. This is the plight of millions of women, and without education there is no hope to break the cycle of poverty.

So what can we do? I was thinking about water because when I was in Washington this last weekend at the 2008 Hunger Symposium, I learned that the SW Washington synod had committed to getting off of bottled water. They had taken the challenge offered at http://www.thinkoutsidethebottle.org/, and were working to get the word out (check out the website, they have facts and resources, including a great reusable water bottle that makes quite a statement). Bottled water is a multi-billion dollar a year industry, and according to this NYT op-ed piece, if Americans spent only one quarter of what they spent on bottled water to address global water issues, we would have a very good start on getting clean water to all (not to mention all the environmental costs that we would avoid in manufacturing and shipping bottles). So get your reusable bottle, and donate the money you save to address this pressing issue.

David Creech

While thinking about my third month anniversary of entering the ELCA universe of World Hunger & Disaster Appeal, I am both excited and humbled by my assignment. Never during my entire professional life have I been in such a supportive environment of colleagues. The learning curve is high and the mission of helping people both at home and across the borders is taken seriously and done with great passion and hard work. Fortunately, I have never lived through a natural disaster and I promise you, I have never experienced true hunger. I have been very blessed. So, in order to evolve my understanding and identification to others less fortunate in these experiences and consider the great importance of our efforts, I recently visited the Field Museum’s “Nature Unleashed – Inside Natural Disasters.” I walked through the Earth’s history of natural disasters in the formats of visual and audio recordings, pictures, interactive exercises and explanations of Hurricanes, Tornados, Earthquakes, and Volcanoes. I came across the following quote in seeking an answer for why these disasters happen:

“Hurricanes, Tornados, Earthquakes and Volcanoes can be disastrous for people. But on a planet fueled by heat, these vents are simply signs that the engine is running. Life on this dynamic Earth will not always be easy. Our challenge – to live here as safely as possible.” Unknown Author

I learned that heat in the Earth’s core and from the Sun cause such events to occur. My next question was, “what kind of good things can come from such unfortunate experiences, both here and abroad?” I later read these words:

“One touch of nature makes the whole world kin”. By William Shakespeare

Out of something as horrible as suffering from natural disasters, arise partnerships fueled by compassion. Walls of division that normally keep us captive in our own section of the world are torn down. As a result, we create new relationships and provide shelter, food, funding and most of all hope to families for a better tomorrow. This is my new place. A team of hope carriers that help make this volatile Earth we share connect and become a family.

For the last couple years, my computer’s home webpage has been www.thehungersite.com. When I log onto the internet, the website’s page opens up with a nice orange button. When I click on that button, 1.1 cups of staple food is donated to hungry people all around the world. Sponsors pay for the advertisements (and most of the products are earth and hunger friendly) so all it costs me is about 5 seconds of my time. You should try it sometime!

This week’s New York Times Magazine is all about food (see it here). In the issue, Michael Pollan, one of my favorite food authors, offers several food policy suggestions to the next president. He links health care, energy independence, and climate change to current (unsustainable) agricultural practices. The whole article is worth reading and reflection. My thoughts have been drawn repeatedly to one statistic cited in the piece–the average American consumes over 190 pounds of meat annually. Since it takes about 8 pounds of feed for 1 pound of beef, that means that the average American consumes 1,520 pounds of food annually, just in meat. That’s 3/4 of a ton! Given the environmental toll of US agricultural practices, and the fact that the poor (both at home and abroad) are most vulnerable to the effects of global climate change, I think I’ll have a salad for dinner tonight.