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Explorations in Just Living

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Welcome to the blog of the Enough for Everyone program of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). By "just living" we mean both justice-based living and just simply living – freeing ourselves from the clutter of stuff so we can focus on living faithfully and living well. Join us in the exploration!

About the Author
Bryce Wiebe coordinates Enough for Everyone, a ministry of the Presbyterian Hunger Program. He loves slow food and is fascinated by the way things are made.  He is excited to dive into experiments in simplicity with you.  His sacred cow of consumption: kitchen gadgets.

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December 17, 2008

Enough for EVERYONE

Ben Randell

Right_box_img_emerg_drcAs my year with the Presbyterian Hunger Program progresses, I find myself thinking a lot about the many challenges we face in our Nation and the World.

The specters of hunger and disease manifest themselves in many ways. Political posturing and civil war enter the mix and a bad situation becomes hell on Earth. Zimbabwe is currently in such a mess. Hyper inflation, political corruption and micro organisms have all conspired to bring an entire country to its knees and worse. 

As a child that knew hunger, every time I see a child in the US or overseas suffering with too little my heart aches.  Looking at these pictures from the NY Times, I find it hard to understand how a President can selfishly cling to power while a people waste away.  It's hard to believe that neighboring leaders, whose citizens are beginning to suffer the same death, aren't crying out for action.  It's awful to think that the average American knows little to nothing about these atrocities and those that do are rendered speechless.

Zimbabwe has become a scene from Lamentations and we see, hear and do nothing.

Three and a half months into my internship and I'm still figuring out with what "Enough for Everyone"  means to me.  Enough for Everyone.  "Enough" is well and good.  I can handle having enough.  It keeps me in food and cloths.  "Comfortable" in a word.  It is the "Everyone" part that is hard to get my brain around.  As an American I am especially challenged by anything that even resembles socialism.  "Everyone" is big.  In the land of plenty it is easy to forget that everything we consume had to come from somewhere and was made by someone.  The challenge of "Everyone" is not mine alone, our culture has real problems with it.  In order to come to grips with the "Everyone" part, we as a people have to accept that our plenty comes at the expense of so many people in Africa.  Our plenty was extracted from what used to be mountains in Appalachia.  And our waste is being spewed on to Peruvian school yards.   

What can we do to change our ways?

The book of Luke opens with John the Baptist conducting a Q&A session with a gathering crowd.  As a preface to Jesus' ministry and teachings John outlines a few planks of the platform:

"What should we do then?" the crowd asked.

John answered, "The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same."

Tax collectors also came to be baptized. "Teacher," they asked, "what should we do?"  

"Don't collect any more than you are required to," he told them. 

Then some soldiers asked him, "And what should we do?"

He replied, "Don't extort money and don't accuse people falsely-be content with your pay." 

Luke 3:10-14 (NIV) 

WE are these people.  We need to ask the question, "What should we do?"  

The answer according to John the Baptist:  We should share.  We should take no more than is required. We should no longer use intimidation to get more for less. We should be contented.

But we aren't.  And all of creation is groaning under the weight of our discontent.  If we sat quietly and listened, we would hear the rocks crying out (Luke 19:40).  Now it is our turn to do the same.

Here are several organizations that are helping deal with the Cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe:

Here is information on how we can begin to reform our consumptive lifestyles to bring them more in line with John's message: