The Silent Sin in America
I have been thinking about this for over a week. It started after the trip to the River House (more about that soon). I had an idea for a story that was unusual, so, of course, I put it off to the side. The thing is though, just a few days later, the idea was thrown before me again in a most unexpected way--at church. The readings and the Gospel were about hunger and nourishment, the very ideas that had just teased my brain a few days earlier. But these are tricky topics to discuss for many reasons.
For some reason, it seems to be a sin to admit to actual hunger in this day and age; and for those who have no food on the table, a cloud of shame keeps them quiet. I have known people who have made up stories for needing money for other reasons in order to put food in a child's stomach. Yet others won't even do that to feed a nine year old. Which is the greater wrong? The lie? or the silence?
In a land where you can walk down the street and see so many things on so many faces--the yearning for the past and the longing for the future; the pining for fame and the wish for quiet; the languishing for love and the starving for success--you see the masses look away when it comes to the real deal. Why does Society still believe that all they have to do is click their heels together three times and they'll end up with manna from heaven in their own backyards?
Mind. Body. Spirit.
We may ache for more, but don't forget the ones who just ache.
edacious (adj): extremely hungry
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Hunger
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3 comments:
It's a fact that if people would learn to share, there would be enough food to feed every single person in this world. Working with the population that I do, I see the effects of hunger (and when I say "hunger", I don't mean missing one meal; I'm talking about days without food) and it hurts my heart to see these little children suffering, and knowing that in some cases, the parents are too proud to accept help. In other cases, there's no help available. So sad.
This must have been the depressing one you skipped.
Yes, this is the sad one I skipped last week. There was so much more that I wanted to write, but I realized that no matter how much I worte, it wouldn't be enough.
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