Hunger Banquet

Last week I went to a "Hunger Banquet" here on campus. I had never been to anything like this before and had no clue what to expect. As each person walked in the door we were randomly handed a card indicating the group we would represent...high income, middle income or poor. I somehow ended up with a high income card and was ushered to a single table sitting in the middle of the room where I sat with three other people. All around me sitting on the floor were about 30 of my friends and peers, representing those in poverty...they had no chairs to table to sit at. Then across the room were about 7 others representing the middle class who sat in chairs but had no table. As the banquet went on we realized that the way the room was set up proportionally represented these groups three groups. The four of us high income individuals at the table represented the 15% of people in the world who earn more than $9,500 a year (this is considered high income by the worlds standards...makes you see how our Western incomes are quite extravagant). The 7 people in the chairs represented those who were on the fringes of poverty...getting sick and not being able to work would utterly spin them into poverty. Then the near 30 people on the floor represented the 67 percent of people in the world who live in poverty, earning about $1 per day. There were staggering statistics of children and parents dying of hungar.

Then the meal was served. The four of us at the table were served a very nice meal...two grilled checken breasts, potato caserole, green beans and cheesecake for dessert...more than I could eat. The middle class were given a pan of rice and beans that they had to serve themselves into small cups. The poor sitting on the floor were given a tray of rice that they had to serve among the group into small cups...I think that each of them got about a half of a cup. It was incredibly akward. We were not allowed to give away our food to the poor...for the sake of the exercise we had to keep it to ourselves. The four of us "high income" folks just looked at eachother and could hardely eat. As we ate we discussed how this was making us feel. We began to understand that what was happening in the room happens each day. For so many of us we eat and live with blinders on...we don't even know what is going on in the world and how so many around us are hungry. Even here in Wilmore, there are children going to bed hungry at night. All I could think about while I was at this banquet was that God sees this all the time...and how it must break his heart to see his people not doing anything about it.

I'm left with a lot to think about after all this. Thought this may be a fitting post before Thanksgiving. Also, if you're reading this you are in the "high income" bracket. More on this later...