Who Is Hungry in Your Midst?

“Have you not read what David did when he and those who were with him were hungry?" // Luke 6:3

"My old foster grandma lives down that street!" a little voice chirped from my back seat.

"Is that so?" I asked distractedly. But when he said it again, in an effort to appease, I turned the car around to do a drive-past.

"Does this look familiar?" I gently asked him as we meandered along. I glanced in the rearview mirror at him looking expectantly out the window and said a prayer that he wouldn't be disappointed when our little detour would surely be a bust.

And then, there she was: cup of coffee in hand, sitting in a patio chair, taking in the cool of the summer morning. She (of course) was just as surprised to see him as I was to see her. He bounded out of the car, nestled his head into her chest, and embraced her. (I later learned that children with a history of trauma can have a highly sensitive awareness of their surroundings. This little boy hadn't seen his former foster family for months, but he knew that place of love and safety as surely as anything.)

In today's Gospel we read of Jesus doing something that was unlawful on the Sabbath: He allowed that His beloved who were hungry were fed (see Luke 6:1-5). For us, too, sometimes feeding the hungry in our midst demands that we step away from convention and routine and be attentive to our call to love. He wants us to respond in joy and trust, even when it feels like a waste of time, money, or energy, or when the outcome seems murky at best. God gave me an opportunity to feed the hungry that glorious summer day. I thank God often that I wasn't so stuck in my head that I missed out on feeding that little boy’s heart.

Let us pray today for the ability to be attentive to the hungry in our midst and to be willing to step out in faith and meet that need.

Step out in faith. // Karen Schultz Click to tweet

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