One-third cup of rice....

I am a fan of the work that BREAD FOR THE WORLD does in fighting hunger. I became aware of their work when my friend Sarah worked there not long after we both graduated from seminary. Through a blog link from BREAD, I recently became aware of a "challenge" issued by the Rev. Jerry Hill of Buncombe Street United Methodist Church in Greenville, SC. He issued a "rice challenge"-- asking people to live on one-third cup of rice for one day. That is the typical amount of nourishment that 1 billion hungry people in the world receive each day.

In this holiday season when so many of our shopping carts are overflowing with abundance--and much of what is in our carts is not abundantly good for us (candy, cookies, peppermint ice cream...),it is hard to fathom only having one-third cup of rice for one meal, much less one day.

I have been haunted by this ever since I read those statistics--one BILLION hungry people who live on less than one-third cup of rice each day. Sometimes we have to look in the mirror and see that WE are the 1% and even when we think we have so little, we have so much.

This morning I measured out one-third cup of rice and put it in a zip-lock bag. Just a reminder. Just a reminder.

Speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all the destitute. Speak out, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy. (Proverbs 31:8-9)