October 4th, 2006 - Hunger Awareness Committee Meeting and Choir

Sometimes you hear something you can’t get out of your head. This happened for me at the Hunger Awareness meeting. We were talking about connecting with people’s hearts regarding hunger and poverty. Diane asked if we shouldn’t have the congregation reflect on their personal experiences with hunger. Diane had a question and her exact words were "When was the last time you skipped a meal?".

As we begin our second year on this effort there is excitement and simultaneously a need for evaluation. There is new enthusiasm coming from the youth on this issue. There were great ideas in the meeting for changing the dynamics of collecting the food contributions. Still we were all concerned about taking on much more than we currently have with the committee members we have. We feel we have some experience but there is a push not to repeat ourselves.

There is a difficulty staying on course with what is a persistent issue. This is where Diane's question hits me. Our lives are organized not to deal with the fundamentals of poverty and hunger. We are forced to intentionally go outside our regular lives to encounter people who need our help. Our community is blessed with abundance which means we do not skip a meals out of need.

I keep thinking of the woman who came to our church and the multitude of reasons that stood in the way of us giving her meaningful help. This is what the we must address to reach another level of help.

It was a men's choir tonight. Two tenors and two basses. Peter came in and thought we were doing men's sectionals. We sang the trilogy of spirituals that was popular and resonant with the choir last year. We also sang Mozart's Praise the Lord, Our God, Forever which was challenging us last year and this time without the alto and soprano parts being sung it made for an interesting rehearsal.