Hunger

There are over 7,000,000,000 people alive on the Earth. That's 7 billion. In order to put that in context, if all the people of the Earth were to line up to shake your hand and that line could be stretched out in a single direction, it would wrap around the world at least 53 times. And if you could shake one hand each second, less than 1.2 billion people would have passed by 2050, at which point an additional 2 billion people would have joined the line. If God were to spend time with each person equally and individually, one at a time, over the span of your lifetime your total time with Him would be less than half a second. Staggering numbers such as these, can make the belief in a personal God seem ludicrous. But such is the wisdom of men and as Paul tells the Corinthians, "... the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength." (1 Corinthians 1:25)

Not that Christians can ignore the truth of the 7 billion. That truth includes the fact that about 1 in 7 of those people will spend their hunger-shortened lives thinking almost entirely about their next bite of food. The next 1 billion people also endure persistent hunger, even as the world's farmers currently produce enough food to meet the needs of every human alive. The world has never known such need by so many people. There is much to be done and not a second to be wasted.

Without contradiction, there is also much to be celebrated. The same 7 billion statistic means there have never been so many alive at one time that have time to spare after feeding themselves and their families. Modern communications link persons and cultures that are literally a world apart. And in spite of radical technological and social change, mankind has been able, thus far, to avoid insanity and self-destruction.

How can these disparate views be reconciled? Much of the world has stopped trying. In first world countries, tremendous self-justification systems and mass denial prop up positions that are untenable in the long run. It is just a matter of time before these houses of cards implode under their own weight. To some, recent economic difficulties are a harbinger and a foretaste of the apocalypse to come. In second- and third-world countries, there seems to be a belief that copying first world extravagances is the best approach. The lunacy of the "what worked in the past is best for the future" mentality cannot be overstated. Any reasonable solution to poverty must also address world population growth at the same time. Never in the past has this been done and never has it been so necessary.

Integration of both promise and challenge is not impossible, however. While Christians do not have a monopoly on resolution of this dilemma, their voices need to be clear, unified and heard. Humanity cannot turn its back on the suffering of the least of its members - such has and continues to be a source of tremendous upheaval, destructive unrest and failure to achieve mankind's great potential. The Gospel message is certainly clear. Christ came to preach justice for the downtrodden and compassion for the needy. Christians everywhere need to be vocal on these matters.

Neither can Christians ignore the tremendous strides that elements of Western-style progress have brought to the entire world. Advances in medicine, food production and communication are clearly responsible for elevating the common good. And new technologies, scarcely imaginable today, will bring even greater advances tomorrow. Christians have the opportunity to embrace these new ideas and they have the moral obligation to shape their application for universal benefit.

Undoubtedly, the challenges of the next generation will be daunting and if left unaddressed will be all but impossible for the following generation. There is nothing to be gained by waiting. The world has no use for practices and policies dependent upon a reality that no longer exists. And it cannot survive without strong advocacy for compassion. The world desperately needs Christians with an affluent hunger, people looking out for "the least of these" with the best that science has to offer. The call has never been clearer than it is this Lent and never has it been more appropriate for Lenten practices to create a hunger and thirst for this righteousness.

May God show you a future bright with both progress and love.