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Today, our children will come home from their time at PassportKids camp. They will have learned about missions, studied the Bible, worshipped, and played “Ga-Ga” ball. They will also have visited the dining hall three times a day during camp.
One of the tasks of adults who go to camp with our kids is to serve a shift or two in the kitchen. They don’t let us cook, but they do ask us to put the food on the trays as the campers come through the serving line. In a short amount of time, the tables fill up with hungry youngsters eating and talking. Whether they are talking about the activity they just finished, or the one that they are going to when they finish eating, they sure seem excited. The food, while it may not be the tastiest, serves the crucial function of fueling all that activity. Whatever they have eaten and however much of it they ate always seems to be enough to get them through the next activity. Mealtime at camp serves two important functions. It allows campers to reconnect and share their experiences while getting them ready to go again. Standing behind the serving counter, watching that beehive of activity, is a joy and a blessing.
Eating food at a table with friends is truly one of the simple joys of life. Food is a vital part of our living that is easily overlooked as long as we have it. Food is also an important part of our faith in terms of how much of it we consume and how much of it we give to those who are hungry.
The prophet Isaiah, speaking about worship that the Lord finds acceptable, says:
Is this not the fast I choose:
To loose the bonds of injustice,
To undo the thongs of the yoke,
To let the oppressed go free
And to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
And bring the homeless poor into your house…
Is. 58:6-7
Jesus, in Luke’s Gospel, says:
Blessed are you who are hungry now,
For you will be filled.
Woe to you who are full now,
For you will be hungry.
Luke 6:21 & 25
At a recent meeting of G-8 nations, leaders expressed their “deep concern” for the growing food shortage around the world. The Group of Eight is a forum for the governments of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, Great Britain, the United States, and the European Union. One would think that if at a meeting of nine of the most powerful governments in the world, a concern was expressed, then some appropriate action might follow. Whether any useful efforts will result from this expression of “deep concern” remains to be seen. However, that evening, the leaders were served an eight-course meal which included caviar, smoked salmon, Kyoto beef, and a variety of wines from around the world. I am not sure how anyone had room for supper after having consumed a six-course lunch which included truffle soup and crab.
Two very different images of people around a table. One delights the heart of God. The other — not so much.
Joy and peace,
Ed
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