The Measure of Wellbeing

Hungry ChildEastertide
April 29, 2015

Scripture Reading: Psalm 22:25-31

From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
   my vows I will pay before those who fear him.
The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
   those who seek him shall praise the Lord.
   May your hearts live for ever! –Psalm 22:25-26

It is a theme that runs throughout the Bible: the wellbeing of God’s people is measured by whether the poor have enough to eat. One would assume that those of us who profess to follow the one true God would hold the wellbeing of his people as one of our highest priorities. The reality of the situation is that we have made a dent in world hunger but there is much left to do.

Bread for the World reports that:
Worldwide, the number of hungry people has dropped significantly over the past two decades, but 805 million people continue to struggle with hunger every day.

  • 1.2 billion people still live in extreme poverty — on less than $1.25 per day.
  • Each year, 2.6 million children die as a result of hunger-related causes.
  • But progress has been made. There has been a reduction of more than 34 percent in global hunger since 1990.
  • The target of halving the percentage of people suffering from hunger by 2015 is possible.
  • However, there are still an estimated 868 million people who are undernourished and more than 100 million children under age five who are undernourished and underweight.*

While all our efforts at meeting both world hunger and hunger right here at home must continue until all are fed, it is important that we attack the root causes of hunger. The biggest is most likely inequities in our economic systems including a living wage for all and equal pay for equal work. We now have several years of evidence that the richer getting richer does not address the needs of the low income. In fact, more people are getting poorer as our middle class shrinks.

Prayer: Lord, reorder our lives so that greed does not supplant wellbeing as our primary life focus. Help us develop and implement economic systems that offer the opportunity for all to thrive. Amen.

*http://www.bread.org/hunger/global/

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.