Sharing Our Abundance

When I was an Environmental Studies major at Oberlin College, I took a class called “American Agricultures.” In the class we learned about the food industry from many angles, visited local farms in northeast Ohio to assist with gleaning, compared and contrasted various economic systems based on their impact on food production, and read Wendell Berry and Juliet Schor and other philosophers and artists who add to our collective national understanding of food abundance and scarcity. I remember learning for the first time that there was enough food in the world to feed every person…it’s not a production problem we have, but a distribution problem.

I grew up in a small, fairly rural Midwestern town, and while my family never struggled to put food on the table, I knew plenty of my friends were on food stamps or made use of the church’s food pantry. I heard how my mom had grown up eating potato soup for a week because it was easy to stretch that dish with a large family. I knew about lunch money debt because my friends had to put some of their a la carte choices back when we went through the middle school lunch line. I saw what could happen when people had to stretch their dollars as far as possible in order to feed their family, especially after the auto industry collapsed in our area. The welfare of the auto giants Ford and GM was directly tied to my friends’ rumbling bellies.

So in college, I could not believe it when I learned that there technically is enough food in the world to feed everyone. EVERYONE. Today, that’s over 8 billion people. We live on an abundant planet, though our species is causing continuous harm that threatens the abundance of the future. I found myself feeling so angry that some folks didn’t have access to any food at all while the tables of others overflowed. I find myself feeling that way today, as the government shutdown persists and people relying on public assistance are faced with going hungry.

Letting food stamps run out is unconscionable. I pray that by the time you are reading this the shutdown has ended and access to SNAP benefits is restored.

So what do we do when we know abundance exists, but we see numerous issues with the sharing part? Right now, some folks in our church family and in our neighborhood and city are going hungry because the greed and pride of a few is limiting access to food for the many. The time is right, in multiple areas, to take stock of what we have and consider how we can share with others.

This is stewardship season at SFBC, and on November 9 we will bring forward our pledge cards that tell our stories about what and how we offer ourselves to others. Pledging our gifts is a personal process that also unites us with our community as we plan together how we will minister in our church and world in the next year.

So if you can, share from your abundance with others. This does not mean neglecting to pay your own bills or fill your own plates or save for retirement. Please put your own financial security first, particularly if you are on a fixed income. If you have extra funds, though, consider donating them to a local foodbank, such as Feed the Need, our Outreach focus for Fellowship Fund offerings in November. You could also give to the general fund of our church, helping us keep the lights on and compensate our staff fairly while also freeing up other funds for benevolence for our church members in need as well as our neighbors. I recently heard someone say that you should give “in a sacrificial way that you can be proud of,” and I think that’s a good guideline. What is meaningful to you—an hour’s or day’s wage? An evening of your busy week set aside to sort donations at a local shelter? Preparing some artistic or musical contribution to our church and community to provide spiritual meaning in a challenging time? There are many ways to think of giving, but however you choose to give, please do it in a way you will be proud of.

In these precarious times, we must take care of one another. Wherever you have abundance in your life, please consider sharing. Whatever you can spare, whether time, energy, talent, finances, care, will be appreciated and will make a difference.

I love you and I love being your pastor,

Rev. Anita