I appreciate the responses to part one about creation. Yes, we sometimes get ahead of ourselves in the process of how best to be responsible for God’s creation and create other problems. That is why it is so important to continue the dialogue.
Last Sunday, the third part of our series addressed how much of scripture is given to instructing us to be sure that people do not go hungry, are treated right in the workplace and visited in prison. I made the statement that any gospel which does not bring good news to the poor is not the gospel of Jesus Christ.
This week we have given our congregation and our readers out there an opportunity to help feed the poor by logging on to FreeRice. FreeRice is sponsored by the United Nations World Food Program. For every right answer you input, 10 grains of rice will be donated to feed the hungry. 10 grains is not much, if anything, you may say. I might have thought so, too, until 2004.
We were in the country of Liberia at a United Methodist Church in a leper colony. We had just spent $500 on a truckload of large bags of rice to bring to all who lived at the colony. We unloaded the bags of rice inside the church and, as people continued to come to the church with their pieces of cloth and bowls for their share of rice, I began to see how very much rice meant to their welfare. It was Saturday afternoon, and as we emptied the last sack of rice, I looked down on the floor and saw grains of rice scattered across the front of the church. I remarked to my friend, “Before we leave, we need to sweep up those grains of rice we spilled.” She said, “There will not be a grain of rice left on the floor in the morning.”
As we were leaving the church, I looked up at the front, and there was a large group of little children huddled around the rice. They came out of the circle, each carefully carrying a few grains of rice in their cupped hands so as not to spill a grain. The floor was spotless! Yes, 10 grains of rice makes a difference!! Thoughts?