Today, September 25 is the first National Voter Registration Day. This is a one day blitz for volunteers, celebrities and organizations from all over the country to hit the streets to raise awareness of voter registration opportunities. According to the site, in 2008, the year of the last presidential voting cycle, 6 million Americans did not vote because they did not know how to register or they missed their state’s voter registration deadline (based on U.S. Census data).

Just this week, I received the October edition of The Lutheran magazine. “2 kingdoms: Taking your faith to the election” reads the cover. Professor and Pastor Darrell A. Jodock, faculty member at my aluma mater Gustavus Adolphus College, writes an interesting article on Lutherans and politics. Jodock draws in his own farming roots, Luther scholarship and posits that the Lutheran tradition does not prescribe how to construct society, but rather invites us to start with and be guided by the orientation toward service to and with the neighbor and community.

I say it every post—my area of study is political science—so I am already on this bandwagon, but I must just say it again. Okay, Hunger Leaders, what is ELCA World Hunger’s comprehensive approach to ending poverty and hunger? Relief, Education, Advocacy and Development—right on! Advocacy is really so integral to ending the cycle of poverty and hunger, because it grows out of our valuable relationships and experiences. *If we are able to, we are compelled to participate in the process that can address root causes of poverty and hunger, at all levels, local, state, federal and international levels.

Participating in the political process does not always feel like the most rewarding activity, but it is a gift, perhaps even a right to do so. Which “side of the aisle” is not the central question to me; rather, will you be actively participating in this process that shapes our communities?

Today’s the day to get registered, and I’ll see you at the polls!

Mikka serves as program director for constituent engagement and interpretation with ELCA World Hunger. To join the network and for more information on how you can get involved, write hunger@elca.org. 

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*This presents another set of interesting questions around who has access and “ability” to vote, but we will save that for another thread and another day.

The Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage report released on September 12, 2012 by the U.S. Census Bureau, states that among the 46.2 million in poverty in the United States in 2011, 16.1 million are children (page 16 of the report). Just considering the 16.1 million children and according to 2011 population numbers, this is slightly more than the combined population of Illinois (12.9 million) and Iowa (3.1 million).

The image of children in poverty inhabiting only two states is of course not helpful, but ironically (and entirely unconnected) this population of children is similar to the current population of two very agriculturally productive states, in one of the most agriculturally productive nations. Though we often think of small communities and local perspective, it helps to take in a bigger view; there is hunger in a land of plenty, the poor live among the rich.

On Sunday, Sept. 23, Mark 9:30-37 comes up as the gospel reading in the lectionary, where Jesus says to the disciples:

 ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’ Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes on such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’ (New Revised Standard Version)

I don’t know what the welcoming will look like, but I know that God calls us to do it and will help us along the way. On with the welcome!

Henry Martinez, ELCA World Hunger- Education

plumb line noun

1 : a line (as of cord) that has at one end a weight (as a plumb bob) and is used especially to determine verticality

2: a line directed to the center of gravity of the earth: a vertical line

Today is September 11. It’s been 11 years since the event that is one horror among the many (think of Hurricane Katrina and the Columbine High School shooting, to name just two) that have been said to shape my generation, the Millennials.

What shape is that?

USA Today says that Millennials have been shaped by the traumas of our formative years, but have not been broken. Millennials are resilient and are a seemingly irrepressibly optimistic bunch. Yet, even with our positive attitudes, Millennials are almost constantly stressed out about life. Those formative national tragedies we grew up with apparently bring Millennials together in our shock and fear, thinking — Are we next? Millennials are united in a sense of overwhelming urgency.

So, is the shape an optimistic smiley face getting the squeeze like this emoticon?

No, we all know about the great parts about being a Millennial, but what about the parts that make other generations cringe? Millennials are also known as the most narcissistic generation—I mean look at me, writing this whole blog post about my generation! In a New York Times opinion piece, Ross Douthat ponders, “how can the same generation be more solipsistic and more interested in human betterment and ambitious social activism? But maybe they actually go hand in hand.”

So, the shape is like a yin-yang, two seemingly opposing pieces coming together in harmony?    

At this moment, I find that the shape is not a shape (a space that is enclosed), but rather a line. A plumb line, perhaps, as defined by Merriam Webster: “a line directed to the center of gravity of the earth.” When I feel adrift, that is when I seek to return to the center— the center of who I am and who I am called to be—the plumb line.

Today, my plumb line is participation. I feel a sense of urgency in the work we are called to do toward justice and through ELCA World Hunger. I really do believe that all people deserve access to health and wholeness, even and especially in the midst of dismal circumstances. Even when I feel stressed out, I believe there is so much potential in what is to come.

So, friends, in one word, what is your plumb line? From the experiences you have had growing up and in life, to what do you return when you feel downcast? What cord ties together your life’s calling? What keeps you grounded?

I can’t wait to read your responses…join the journey.

Mikka serves as program director for constituent engagement and interpretation with ELCA World Hunger. To join the network and for more information on how you can get involved, write hunger@elca.org. 

“For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?” Isaiah 43:19a

My name is Justin Rabbach and I am the (very) new Youth Group Organizer for ELCA World Hunger. Though I have found myself dealing with an information overload during my first week on staff, I have also stayed grounded by relecting on the verse above from Isaiah.

I moved to Chicago from Madison, Wisconsin, where I graduated in May from the University of Wisconsin with my Master’s in International Public Affairs, focusing on International Development. In the course of a week I have found myself in a new city, in a new apartment, working a new job. That’s a lot of new things…. While all of those changes were a bit daunting, leaving behind a lot of familiar things (family, friends, favorite restaurants and sports teams), it is also a very exciting time! I am aware that while I am experiencing new things, I am also at point where I am trying hard to focus on the “new thing” that God is looking to do through me and the rest of the staff here at ELCA World Hunger.

I grew up in the Moravian Church, and got involved in missions following a trip to Nicaragua in 2007 that really opened my eyes to the possibilities of building relationships and serving God abroad.  Five years later, God has taken me time and again through “new” experiences, I have found myself serving Him for varying lengths of time in Wisconsin, California, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Alberta, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Israel/Palestine.

Everytime I allow myself to be taken out of my comfort zone, God places amazing “new” things in my path. I am excited to get started here on staff at ELCA World Hunger, and while I take time to learn a lot of things that are “new” to me here before I really begin to work, it is awesome to know that God has already begun!