Tonight, about a hundred or so North Carolina Conference Methodists took the time they would have been eating and instead, gave themselves to feeding those who would otherwise go hungry.  In this effort, in partnership with Stop Hunger Now, they put together 15,000 food packets that will ultimately be 90,000 meals.  I know, it can sometimes be a bit of a cliche’, “feed the hungry children.”  Except that, there really are hungry children.

Sometimes I think those of us with full bellies and adequate shelter, maybe even shelter complete with flat screen televisions, American Idol, and closets full of the finest threads, well, we sometimes forget this fact.  Yet, here is the thing, while those hundred folks put together those bags of food that would be consumed from tattered tables, or on hut floors, or in back alley shanties, about 2488 children starved to death.

Oh sorry.  I’m not really supposed to blog about that.  After all, it is a story that injects itself into our well ordered feel-good lives in a way that disturbs our satisfaction with our sense of our own do-goodness.  And really, it is a story that sort of injects itself into our well ordered Annual Conference experience here in the beautiful Raleigh Convention Center.  But please don’t misunderstand, I love a well-ordered conference with fine music, terrific worship, and hugs and laughs all around.  I love it.  Truly.

I just don’t want us to forget that in the midst of this, Jesus is calling us to come and feed him.  I’m thanking God that many did and that on a night in the not too distant future, there will be 90,000 mouths wrapped around rice and soy and vitamins, and at least on this night … they will not go hungry.  Praise God.