WEDNESDAY, September 15 Ember Day

Psalm 72. May there be abundance of grain on the earth, growing thick even on the hilltops.

In much of America, the grain is ripening and will soon be ready for harvest. Combines will lumber through the fields like giants, cutting and threshing. But in countries like Mali and Ethiopia, the soil is exhausted, neglected, and leached of its power, so that harvests—when there are any—are pitiful, and the people who live there are desperate. Even when we try to share our bounty, wars and corrupt dictators sometimes thwart our efforts.

But try we must. A people insensitive to others will soon perish. God will not long protect a people who turn their backs on God’s poor. The earth produces enough food for every human being to eat, yet at least one child will die of hunger as you read this page.

Perhaps we need to spend more hours on our knees, praying for the will and the wisdom to do something about world hunger and that we will find ways to overcome petty tyrants who frustrate distribution. Perhaps we need to offer God ourselves, our souls and bodies, as a reasonable, holy, and living sacrifice to relieve the poor. (1992)

PRAY for the Diocese of Hawaii (Province VIII, USA)

Ps 72 * 119:73-96; Job 42:1-17; Acts 16:16-24; John 12:20-26

View the daily Lectionary Readings at Satucket.com.
Or view the Bible passages at Biblegateway.com.

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Sep 15, 2010 at 5:42 am

Written by Andrea,

Maybe, in addition to more time on our knees, we need to spend more time working for those in need everywhere.

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Help Us

Sep 15, 2010 at 6:44 am

Written by Stephen,

Last night my wife read a paper that stated the needs of a ministry in which we are about to get involved. It stated that 45% of all children born each year in our county are to unwed mothers. Of that 45%, 75% live below the poverty line. This information was so disheartening to me that I was glad that I didn't hear this before I committed to it, otherwise I don't know If I would have had the courage to get involved. The reason is that this effects all of us. How can we have a thriving economy and healthy families with a growing class of impoverished people? Although I am glad to help, I also hope our leaders will be more willing to use the full force of our government because this is bigger than the church can handle on it's own. Pray, hope, act and vote.

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Poverty and Hunger

Sep 15, 2010 at 11:06 am

Written by Mary E.,

There are many reasons why people, including children in this country, are poor and hungry. We may not be able to do much individually, but there are ways to help, like the ministry Stephen and his wife have committed to. Our church started a Sunday free lunch almost 30 years ago. People thought it would be a temporary thing, but here we are still doing it, and we've added a food pantry. Many of the regulars are elderly, from nearby senior housing, and need something to supplement Social Security.
Bread for the World is good organization advocating for national and global hunger issues.

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Peak Soil and Overpopulation

Sep 15, 2010 at 2:33 pm

Written by Tom P,

Lest anyone think that the U.S. is and can continue to be the "breadbasket" of the world, consider that the world is already overpopulated by at least some 4.3 billion people. Consider also that our modern agricultural practices rely on petroleum derived fertilizers of Nitrogen and Phosphorous and then consider Peak Oil and the fluctuations and manipulations of the price of crude petroleum that are but just beginning. We used to rotate crops. The Levitical Sabbatical year was primarily (Leviticus 25:1-2 to let the land rest for a year so the nutrients could recover and be ready for the next six years. Rotating crops accomplished much the same thing but we don't do that anymore. We have depleted the soils of their natural nutrients and use ever larger equipment which erodes the topsoil much more rapidly. The future, as we have manipulated the present, is not very hopeful.

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Have things changed?

Sep 15, 2010 at 9:07 pm

Written by Tres L,

I agree that we must find ways to help the hungry here and abroad, sharing what we have with others. I would like to think that since 1992 things have changed at least somewhat with initiatives like the ONE campaign, so that the horrible statistic about a child dying as we read the meditation has decreased to some extent.
But we have to keep praying, and doing - thank you to Stephen and his wife, and Mary, for recognizing the needs of others and getting involved. God bless you and your ministries.

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