Leading a rich life, one totally worthy of SIMPLE.

Hear author and poet Anne Basye share more about her life and book Sustaining Simplicity: A Journal on a recent segment of 30 Good Minutes.

For more information about Sustaining Simplicity and simple living visit:
www.elca.org/Our-Faith-In-Action/Responding-to-the-World/ELCA-World-Hunger/Resources/Simple-Living.aspx

Happy reading, happy living!
Christopher

As an organization that defines hunger broadly, ELCA World Hunger is concerned with the many root causes of hunger. One of these root causes is, of course, war. And the current situation is Gaza is especially poignant for anyone who wants to explain how war causes hunger. It is demonstrating so many of the effects in such a short period of time.

In perusing the news coverage, I found this page today on the BBC Web site. It provides a summary of several of the problems in just one page. Getting food is the most direct hunger issue. People are running out of food in their homes, warehouses that store food are too dangerous to access, distribution paths are disrupted, bakeries lack cooking gas to make food, outside food can’t cross the borders in sufficient quantities, and the price of the food that is available continues to rise.

Beyond the food itself, energy supplies have been interrupted, which means that people don’t have the electricity or gas to cook, even if they have the food. More problematic, water is running short as the pumps at wells run out of fuel to lift the water from the ground. In addition, lack of power has halted the pumps at wastewater treatment plants, causing sewage to flood neighborhoods, farmland, and sea.

Those are just some of the immediate problems caused by war. The longer-term issues are just as grave. On this page, a woman mentions that local farmers have not been able to harvest their crops for two weeks. Depending how long the fighting continues and how much damage is done to the crops, war can destroy food supplies for a whole season as well as the livelihoods of those who are employed in the local food system. Damage to the fields and soil can destroy that chain for longer than a season. In addition, damage to other infrastructure – roads, businesses, government buildings – can interrupt livelihoods and basic services in many sectors, and for a place like Gaza that doesn’t have a lot of wealth and assets to start with, recovery can be a long road even in the best of circumstances. And none of this even addresses the loss of life – often working age men who provide income for their families.

Gaza is the location grabbing headlines at the moment, but the factors are similar in every war. So until war ends everywhere, as people engaged in the fight against hunger, the trick is to not grow weary of long-lasting wars, or to forget them as soon as they’re over, but to keep on fighting for those affected and for a different future. Ironic, the wording, no?

With the Christmas season winding down and the routine of the new year slowly settling in, I thought it would be a good time to introduce some of the issues that ELCA World Hunger will be especially focused upon in 2009. Over the next couple of weeks, I will briefly highlight in four posts each of our focus areas: Food, Fuel, and Finances; Climate Change and Hunger; HIV/AIDS and the Lutheran Malaria Initiative; and Intentional Living: Food Practices. I invite you to offer your own reflections and/or resources you have found particularly helpful in thinking about these topics.

Food, Fuel, and Finances

The three F’s are deeply intertwined and of late extremely volatile. In 2008, the price of many staple foods (such as wheat, rice, and corn) rose globally as much as 130% (http://www.bread.org/). The spike in food prices culminated in riots in about 30 countries. This spike in food prices is related to (among other things) a sharp rise in gas prices, which peaked nationally in June and July at about $4.15 a gallon (http://www.eia.doe.gov/). The rise in gas prices affects the price of food because modern production and distribution of food is heavily dependent upon petroleum. Moreover, in the quest to find alternatives to gasoline, farms previously used to grow food now are used for the production of biofuels. As 2008 drew to a close, global financial markets tumbled as the subprime lending mess reverberated throughout many financial sectors.

Each of these hardships is particularly devastating to those who are poorest. This year we will engage the food, fuel, and finance crises from their perspective, raising awareness and advocating on behalf of those who are most vulnerable.

-David Creech

Will President Obama start a farm on the White House lawn? Local food advocates like Alice Waters and Michael Pollan think he should. When Eleanor Roosevelt planted a Victory Garden at the White House during World War II, 20 million Americans followed her lead. Soon, the United States was producing 40% of the domestic food supply in these gardens.

Today, we spend $30 billion annually on lawn care. (That’s 50,000 square miles of grass.)

Right after Thanksgiving, the PBS show Bill Moyers Journal focused on the links between what we eat, how we grow that food, and the some of issues President-elect Obama placed at the center of his campaign: improving our health care system, reducing our dependence on oil, and job creation.

Check out Moyers’ interview with Michael Pollan, a feature on an urban farming organization called Growing Power, an analysis of the issues at stake in the U.S. Farm Bill, and a guide to “voting with your fork.“

–Jennifer Barger

There’s been a lot of buzz recently about a happiness study. The premise is that happiness is contagious up to three degrees of separation. So if you are my friend and you become happy, I’m more likely to become happy, too. What’s more, my friend Mary is more likely to become happy even if Mary doesn’t know you. And even Mary’s friend John is more likely to become happy – 3 people removed from you, the source of all that happiness.

In addition to studying happiness, the authors have previously studied the impact of social networks on obesity and smoking rates. Apparently obesity has been spreading through social networks, and smoking has been declining. There are some interesting animations charting the progressions on this page.

If these social influences are real, what hopeful news for those of us fighting hunger! It suggests that our attitudes and behaviors can have larger impact than we ever knew. If happiness, obesity, and smoking are trackably influenced by a single person through their chain of friends, why not charitable giving or concern for those who are living in poverty? When I speak passionately and regularly about hunger, perhaps it will influence not only my immediate audience, but, through them, people I’ve never seen or met. And what happens when a whole web of us do it?

There are, of course, people criticizing the happiness study. One of the complaints is that the authors have proven correlation, but not causation. Still, the whole idea feels commonsensical to me. Doesn’t peer pressure work in a similar way? Aren’t we influenced by people we know? Aren’t they influenced by people they know? Why would it not carry through? So right or wrong, I’m going to approach the new year as if I matter more than I thought I did. May 2009 see our individual anti-hunger efforts spread far and wide!

In the season of Advent we wait expectantly for the promised light. During the twelve days of Christmas, we celebrate the light revealed in the incarnation. This Sunday, many will celebrate Epiphany, the revelation of Christ’s light to the nations. The Christ event in the Christian tradition represents the fulfillment of God’s promises, the dawn of a new era.

In our current context, however, this neat and tidy summation of God’s activity can be explored more deeply. In spite of the fulfillment language found throughout the New Testament, we nonetheless still live in a liminal stage (what George Eldon Ladd called the “already and not yet”). Yes, the light has come in the Christ event; yet we still await the final fulfillment (Romans 8:18-25 expresses this idea well).

Although Christ has come and we have a taste of God’s promises, we still live in very uncertain times. The current financial crisis threatens the livelihood of millions (one estimate I’ve read is that by the time we emerge from the recession, nearly 50 million in the US will be living below the poverty line [see the report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, available at http://www.cbpp.org/11-24-08pov.pdf]; already the crisis has plunged more than 115 million people into poverty worldwide [see www.bread.org]). Wars, famine, and disease persist throughout the world. In this way, I find this next Sunday’s Psalm (72) to be a beautiful prayer for our times—that God would empower rulers (in our cities, states, nations, and world) to govern justly and defend the cause of the poor. May the church, empowered by the gracious Holy Spirit, lead by example!

Like many places, Chicago has had a lot of snow recently, and I’m probably the first to whine about the winter commute to and from work. But that’s the extent of my whining. I hate how much time I spend in the car, but I don’t hate the snow. The way I see it, snow and sleet are sparkly gifts that we’re lucky to get and should never take for granted – let alone curse!

Reinforcing my opinion was a recent article in Time Magazine titled “Dying for a Drink.” From it I learned that Las Vegas has a population of 1.9 million people (!!) and typically receives just 4 inches of rain a year. How long can they all live there before the water is gone? And what will happen then? I also learned that “half the planet lacks the same quality of water that the ancient Romans enjoyed” and that in India “wells that once hit water at 20 ft. now need to go 80 ft. or deeper.”

Life – including the food we eat – can’t exist without water. Everyone’s rice and wheat cost more this year because of Australia’s drought. So let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! Frozen water that melts slowly and is absorbed by the ground is good. It’s good for our water tables and aquifers, good for our plants and animals, and good for us. Las Vegas can only hope it’s not another 30 years before their next big snowfall. And as the snow comes down here in Chicago this winter, I will give thanks for this most precious and beautiful of gifts.

The absurdly frigid temperatures are a different story.

Pastor Julie Rowe served with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land from 2004 to 2008 and watched the walls and settlements grow and encircle Bethlehem and other Palestinian towns and lands. She wrote this for those who sing the traditional carol to make them aware of the current reality and hopefully stir up some conscience to do something to free the town of the One who freed us. Learn more at www.elca.org/peacenotwalls

This is the fourth and final post in our series by young adults on the topic of HIV/AIDS.

It is written by Ryan Fordice, a Luther College Alumnus. He attends Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Dubuque, IA, and has previous experience centered on social justice.

As we in the ELCA continue to shape our identity and mission for the 21st century, it has become clear that we intend to not just continue our central focus on humanitarian concerns but expand and intensify it. The long‑overdue call for an official AIDS policy is a major component of our forward motion. This push and the commitment to action that absolutely must follow will challenge the ELCA to utilize the full depth of its resources, especially the remarkable individual talent and energy of our five million members. One mechanism through which we can advance our humanitarian mission is full time service opportunities. The personal, church-wide and societal benefits of service are great for people of any demographic, but the situational conditions of youth and recent graduates make the investment of offering meaningful service to young adults especially fruitful for a couple reasons.

Firstly, they often have the extraordinary freedom to set aside a year for service, and the simple immediate effect of this full time work is invaluable in and of itself. Secondly, and this is really the heart of the issue, the investment of self in a meaningful cause through service forms a lasting personal concern with that cause. If we offer expanded and increased service opportunities for our youth that are intentionally focused on the problems we have prioritized,—AIDS, for example—in addition to the immediate benefit of their labors we will gain the long-term benefit of planting the humanitarian priorities of the ELCA deeply into the hearts and minds of these young adults who have already demonstrated that they will be advocates and active citizens through their service.

Since I am most familiar with HIV/AIDS and was a member of the ELCA’s youth delegation to the International AIDS Conference I will deal with this issue as an example. If combating the AIDS pandemic is going to be a priority of the ELCA in the 21st century (and I believe our faith demands it must), we must drastically increase the opportunities we give our members to serve with HIV/AIDS projects and organizations.

In perusing the ELCA’s mission and service websites I found the following regarding AIDS service opportunities for young adults in our primary domestic service organization, the Lutheran Volunteer Corps: From 2003‑2005, the LVC had placements in six organizations nationwide working with an AIDS organization. In the 2007‑2008 placement listing there are only three organizations—providing five total placements—listed that obviously focus on HIV/AIDS. This list is not broken down by category, so there may be some organizations that deal with AIDS and have names that do not immediately suggest this, but whatever the case, at any given time the ELCA is providing the opportunity to work in domestic AIDS organizations to a single digit number of young adults at maximum.

The situation is similar for our primary international service organization for youth, Young Adults in Global Mission. Of the nine global sites, only one—South Africa—includes a focus on AIDS. The scope of our AIDS service offerings must be expanded dramatically, both to increase our immediate response to the crisis and invest in future societal and church leaders to champion the cause.

We have a wealth of passionate young adults currently serving in an admirable domestic and international service system; this call is not meant to belittle or criticize this. Neither the work that has been done to create and maintain this system nor the meaningful service that have been offered by those who have served and are serving in it is being attacked. This call is rather meant to lift up the goodness and the power of this invaluable resource and offer that it ought to be expanded, and that when it is expanded it ought to be focused on the advancement of our church’s vision for the world as it ought to be. And it lastly offers that this vision ought to include more than just an official statement on AIDS, but a plan to address it with the full strength of this church and all its passionate members. We must form new service partnerships with HIV/AIDS clinics, care centers, educational organizations, and ministries both in the U.S. and in AIDS‑stricken countries around the world, building on existing relationships where possible and creating new ones where necessary.

This is a plan that will provide the kind of individual involvement that will transform the hearts and minds of those who serve into lifelong advocates in both the church and the world at large.

-Ryan Fordice

This is the third post in our HIV/AIDS series by young adults. It is written by Jacquelin Rostad, who attends Luther Seminary. Her home Congregation is Trinity Lutheran Church in Moorhead, MN. She plans to bring HIV/AIDS advocacy into her future ministry.

Bishop Mark Hanson’s call for public acts of repentance by members of the church to oppressed communities was a powerful and proud moment for Lutherans during the 2008 International AIDS Conference. In front of five hundred onlookers, Hanson washed the feet of two HIV+ women.

Certainly the message is on the mark – there is no room for discrimination against anyone in the body of Christ, and the presence of stigma is the absence of Christian love. But the move towards repentance, reconciliation, and lived Christian love cannot end with one leader’s largely symbolic act while the cameras were flashing and all eyes were on him. The challenge now lies with us, the church, to answer the call, to repent for being openly or subtly exclusionary, to make amends for turning a blind eye to those in desperate need. How might the neighborhood church and the individual Lutheran respond?

To truly make amends, a symbolic gesture or word is not enough. Things must be set to rights. Action must be taken. Individuals might feel powerless to respond to the global AIDS crisis – “I don’t know anyone with AIDS!,” or “What can one person do?” But acts of repentance don’t have to happen publicly or on the global scale to be powerful. It could be as simple as church members coming together to create an AIDS visitation team, a small group of people who visit or bring food to individuals in the community with HIV/AIDS. The community church can also help to erase stigma by encouraging church members to get tested for HIV. Familiarity erases stigma, and something as simple as having a conversation about getting tested for HIV can start to erase that stigma.

Churches can begin to repent for the discrimination of the past by welcoming stigmatized persons into their communities. Many churches claim to be welcoming and friendly, but make little effort to truly position themselves as centers of their communities or reach out to stigmatized people in their neighborhoods. Offering support groups for persons affected by HIV/AIDS and their friends and family, or hosting a community meal with a facilitated discussion of AIDS in the community can open doors for conversation. To truly show a spirit of repentance, the emphasis should be on learning and dialogue, with the attitude that the church is already walking with the community, not reaching down to it.

Going forward, we must remain mindful that real people are hurt by the actions and words – and the inaction and silence – of the church. Getting rid of stigma implies opening our doors, our arms, and our hearts to individuals who may have had a very different life experience, and a very different experience of the church. It implies salving the deep wounds of discrimination with the healing balm of unconditional Christian love, even if someone looks different or loves differently or lives differently than us.

-Jacquelin Rostad