Bread

When I stopped my car by the side of the road in Wisconsin to take this photo, I was struck at how time seemed to have stopped. Obviously, what I saw was the result of many hours of labor, yet all was now still. The bales seemed to be saying, "We are ready. What now?" An air of expectancy lingered in the air.

The central plains of the U.S. is commonly called the 'breadbasket of the world'. We are capable of feeding so much of the world's population. When my Nicaraguan aunt first came to the U.S. to visit us in central Illinois, it was springtime, and the ground was ready to be planted. The soil was black and rich and had just been turned over. She asked if they had 'burned' the ground already. 'Slash-and-burn' is still common in Central America but makes the ground increasingly nutrient-poor each successive year. It is usually practiced where people are growing for subsistence, just to survive another season.

God has abundantly blessed this country. It was not until I left the States to live overseas that I really understood how much. What we take for granted here are luxuries in many parts of the world--potable water, food in the markets, nutrient-rich soil, individual rights, just to name a few.

I don't think there are many hearts that do not melt when they see the pitiful babies on TV from overseas that lack the most basic of human needs: food and water. Statistics say that about 13% of the world's population is malnourished, many of them children.

I know my heart breaks, especially for the children. How do we reconcile the suffering of innocent children and a compassionate, loving God? I wish I had the perfect answer to that--but I do know that much of the suffering we see is caused by man's corruption, greed, selfishness, political maneuvering, apathy, or the insatiable lust for power.

God calls us out of all of that and longs to fulfill our basic needs--hunger and thirst. It starts with a longing for Him and ends with a deep satisfaction that penetrates to the center of our souls--and then moves outward to encompass a genuine love for others. There is no 'slash and burn' here, just a burning desire to change the world, one tender soul at a time.

"Then Jesus declared, 'I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.'" John 6:34