I write my post this week with mixed feelings. As the title this week suggests, I'd like to share a few thoughts about hunger. Three things, in particular, happened to me this week that have influenced my reflection.
Last Sunday (Mother's Day), as I sat in the congregation at mass, I had the honor of sitting around several children. These children, roughly 0-3 years old, struggling to fit the church norm of quiet cooperation, were happily engaged in their own tasks. Of course, the parents were making their attempts to "shh" the children, but this did not work entirely. Something about the gestures and sounds that these children were making put a smile on my face rather than a look of frustration that I might normally expect from myself. I realized that these "children of God" were actually showing me the innocent joy that Jesus teaches us is a beautiful thing that we should allow ourselves to maintain throughout our lives. Children hunger for simple joys and watching these children on Sunday affirmed for me that their parents are doing a good job satisfying this hunger through tender love and care.
Providing "tender love and care" for one's children through hugs, kisses, affirming language, and other positive reinforcement is so very important. I'm so very thankful to have had all of these (and still have these) showered on my by my parents. My development into adulthood, I believe, is a direct reflection of my parents' commitment to this affection. However, my parents coupled this affection for me with access to good food and healthcare. If my parents had not satisfied my physical hunger, I would have been more likely to have greater health concerns and more likely to struggle in school. Most people would agree that children can not grow up healthy, smart, and motivated as a result of affection only. Children (and adults, too, of course) need physical nourishment to sustain the mind and body on a daily basis. Too often physical hunger goes unnoticed in our country (and world). While I have understood on a cursory level that hunger is a problem in our society, I had no idea just how far-reaching it is in our own country. This week, I saw a new documentary called A Place at the Table. This documentary provides a close look at the issue of child hunger in the United States. I encourage all of you to find this film and watch it. Check out this website for more information: http://www.magpictures.com/aplaceatthetable/. The greatest lesson I learned from the film is that one out of four children in the U.S. are hungry! This is outrageous given that there is more than enough food here to fix this problem. I've come to believe that satisfying physical hunger first can lead to opening the door toward spiritual nourishment. They are deeply connected to our being.
Sometimes, though, we have no idea just how connected or disconnected the physical and the spiritual hunger is for people. This week, a terrible tragedy happened in our faith community. One of the fourteen- year-old boys in our Religious Education program took his own life. This freshman in high school came from wonderful parents who succeeded most often in satisfying he and his older brother's physical and spiritual hunger. When things like this happen (which they seemingly happens more frequently these days), we can't even begin to imagine the depth of hunger that these young people go through. Naturally, we start to ask "what if" questions that might have prevented such a tragedy. However, all this does is deepen our own hunger for answers and reconciliation. How do we then satisfy this hunger? I would suggest we try to do so through faith, hope, and love.
As you can see, hunger is an extremely relevant reality for us today. I pray that we all find ways to not only satisfy our own hungers, but also to help as many people as we can satisfy their own.
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." -Matthew 5:6
As I read the above passage, I believe that righteousness refers to any human's attempt to find the perfect joy and peace that comes from God.
May we be ever-faithful, ever-mindful, and ever-joyful.
Ryan King....rip :-(
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