Give thanks by fighting hunger
Just days before most of us sit down to eye-popping amounts of turkey, stuffing and pie, we read that nearly 1 in 8 Americans “struggled to feed themselves adequately last year.”
When I read stats like that, I’m reminded of words from Martin Luther King Jr.:
“A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. On the one hand we are called to play the good Samaritan on life’s roadside; but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life’s highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.”
Many people of faith will be feeding the hungry this week at soup kitchens and shelters all over the country; this is absolutely necessary and I’m proud of the way my home church stepped out this year. This is, to use King’s analogy, playing the good Samaritan on life’s roadside.
This Thanksgiving, let’s also consider how “the whole Jericho road” of hunger can be transformed. Perhaps the way we can best show our gratitude for the things we’ve received is to fight for programs and policies that will not leave the hungry “constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey.” With a new Congress and President about to step into office, this is the time for a new politics of hunger, and people of faith can encourage that change.