[Before I get too far, please understand my disclaimer. These are my thoughts and views, not always accurate, and certainly not meant to offend anyone!]
I have ventured down new roads recently and what an eye-opening experience it has been. It is one of those things you really can't understand until you have "been there, done that". While some of this may not be a big deal to most, there is something that struck me to my core, something much bigger than me. Now that I have given it such an introduction, you may laugh at what I am about to share with you - food! And it will take me a moment to get to my point.
A few months ago I came to the realization that my body was no longer handling the diet I was feeding it. I was extremely addicted to soda, and I loved nothing more than going out to eat. Whether it was lunch with my brother or dinner with my family, I never turned down a meal at the restaurant. Stepping on the scale reaching record numbers finally gave me enough motivation to stop drinking pop. I have done this many times before, and the furthest I would get was maybe a month, then I would continue on with my habit. This time I was serious however, and I did very well. I lost about 8lbs in the first month. Now that I had conquered this addiction, I was facing my terrible eating habits. Going out to lunch a couple of times a week, getting very unhealthy snacks, and on and on. If I took the time to write down everything I ate throughout the day, it would be a wonder that my body stayed alive. Seriously. Right at this time I had a health exam and really high blood pressure. The exam came back and proved what my body had been telling me - a very bad diet and high cholesterol. The Dr said I wasn't going to have a heart-attack today, but if I didn't take care of it very soon, I would have one "tomorrow".
Bare with me here...I am trying to get to my point...
So it was time to tackle one of my biggest struggles and begin a better diet. I started small, just eating healthier where I could, no more snacks, cutting back on butter, etc. Then I tried something drastic, a diet that cut out everything. For two weeks I had a fruit for lunch, and blended frozen fruit for dinner. I have never tried dieting of any kind, let alone something this drastic, but the lessons I learned from this crazy diet have changed my outlook on life.
First, I found out just how addicted to food we are and we don't even realize it. That first week of taking all of that food away was absolute torture! Every smell, every sight, every thought began to focus on the food around me as I was so "hungry". If you don't believe me, try it yourself. I was not starving myself by any means, I was simply breaking an addiction to food. At the end of that first week, my body calmed down and I was able to get through a day just fine on a salad or something small. I could go to a restuarant and not order anything, or maybe just eat a salad. My addiction had been broken and I ate small and healthy - and I felt amazing! In two weeks, 10 more pounds were gone. Long story short, I had a serious addiction to food, and I think many of us do and we don't even realize it. I can't believe how good I feel on a little fruit and vegetables! Two others did this with me and they both said the exact same thing.
Secondly, I realized something very important. As I went through that first week feeling desparately hungry, one of the hardest weeks of my life, it occurred to me that there are people out there who really ARE this hungry, to a much greater extent than what I was feeling. My wife went to Africa a year ago and she had the opportunity to see this in person. The children were living on the streets with no food (not streets like we have, these are slums filled with garbage and disease), some sniffing paint to help take away the hunger pains, others fighting over any portions they would get, and some so malnurished they simply died. It was a scene that words could not even describe. I just can't get the image out of my head. I chose to go hungry because my abundance was going to kill me, while they will die because they have no choice in their poverty.
We see the images on TV, we hear the stories, but most of us don't really give it another thought. I am writing this because we need to hear, we need to listen to the cries! Not to get "religious" on you, but this is truly at the heart of God. There are so many scriptures about the poor and hungry; one that comes to mind is to hear the cry of the poor, or your cry will not be heard. Another telling us to take care of the "least of these", the hungry, the sick...or you will not enter to eternal life. (Matt 25) It is not the act that gives us eternal life, it is the fact that being children of God, our heart becomes his heart, our will becomes his will - which is to love the poor and not ourselves. Where is our heart?
If you have not been outside of the United States, I'm sure this is foreign to you. We really can't understand our abundance until we have experienced what poverty looks like. You may not know this fact - if you own a car and have a house, you are in the top 95% (something like that) richest people in the world! You are filthy rich! I bet you had never thought about yourself that way. If you go to a place like Africa, I am pretty sure you will understand. In fact, if you are like me, you almost take offense at what I am telling you right now. Until we have either seen it for ourselves, or heard it from someone who has been there, I just don't think we can understand how incredibly fortunate we are in our abundance. We have too much, we eat too much, we are filthy rich! I could probably feed a child in another country for a month if I chose to go without a lunch one day.
I don't wish to condemn anyone, but how can we ignore the cries of the poor any longer? All you have to do is put your kids in the slums of Africa and you will quickly see what I mean. There are so many who are doing great things already, but the need is overwhelming. Let's support the poor in some way, let's take trips to Haiti, let's adopt an orphan! The first thing I hear from everybody is "why don't you just help someone that is in the United States?" I say "Amen! Let's do it!" But do you think "we" are doing it? And why focus on the other countries? Quite honestly, the poor in this country are rich compared to the poverty over seas. Yes, the need is so great all over the world, so much greater than the need in the United States. However, if you are so inclined, let's help someone in our backyard too!
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