Translator: Elisa Lanzi Reviewer: Cristina Bufi-Pöcksteiner
Have you ever been to a website or newspaper,
to be struck by two images that collide?
On the one hand, too much food,
to which can be added an unbalanced diet,
small meals between meals.
Result,
the scale indicates the excess
and diets will try to burn those excess calories,
sometimes very expensive diets.
Too many calories deform the body,
fatigue the joints,
wear out the heart,
can cause life-threatening diseases.
And on the other side,
it’s a lack of calories that will eventually cause
the death of men, women, children,
at the end of a long journey of suffering.
What can we do ?
This question already worried me
when I worked as a doctor in different hospitals.
And then, when many years later,
I became a pastor.
I asked myself :
but what to do ?
Let’s take a closer look.
Figures that speak for themselves.
Every year, according to recent data –
but this is of course an estimate –
there are about 36 million people dying for lack of calories,
and for a year, too,
29 million people will die from the consequences of excess food.
The situation is paradoxical.
She is scandalous.
What can we do ?
What was tempted by some was to reduce the excesses,
a more reasonable food,
a waste hunt.
What was tried on the other side was to help the poor,
to make donations.
What is proposed here,
it is an approach that joins “excess” and “lack”
and which aims to diminish the excesses,
correct as much as possible
to arrive at a situation of balance where everyone is a winner.
Offer calories for life,
fight against hunger and get better!
Save lives
without having to take out a franc more than usual!
Concretely,
it’s about giving up a meal a week,
preferably an evening meal,
and to offer the counter-value, that is to say the money thus saved,
to a work of your choice,
that is important to you
and who fights effectively against hunger.
The simple idea of having to give up a meal,
restricted,
can give a feeling a little painful,
but it is also true
when you give a gift to someone, you do not feel hurt or frustrated.
The gift is pleasing not only to the one who receives it,
but also to the donor.
Concretely,
the night of the week I go to bed without supper,
the hollow belly,
there are gurgles, the stomach protests,
the bowels claim their due, are afraid of missing,
but I’m not hungry …
I have a desire to eat and that’s something else.
And when I want to eat, I think differently to those who are hungry
and who will be hungry the next day, the following weeks,
and this until death ensues.
It’s about empathy.
There is a feeling of “compassion”,
“Suffering with”
with those who are literally sentenced to death.
And the following days?
Well, already the next day, good surprise:
I do not feel particularly hungry.
I get up with my body and my heart ready.
And next,
I become more aware of how I feed myself.
I can avoid some automatisms,
like devouring the big package of whole chips
watching a game on TV.
And I free myself little by little from this trap.
who would have us believe that we can compensate
the little annoyances, frustrations, worries of every day
by excessive food filling.
And then, I am more aware of the quality of what I eat.
My plate contains food that is precious.
And I know it’s not a due, it’s not automatic.
Always,
the man put all his energy and all his strength
to find a way to eat,
day after day.
The way we feed ourselves,
on this earth,
say something of our way of living together.
Do I eat alone in my corner?
Do I share with others?
It is for everyone a spiritual question.
For me, who is a Christian, this question is urgent:
what are we doing
when we pray in the Lord’s Prayer this request,
“Give us today our bread today”?
It is still something other than “give me my daily bread”.
There is this community dimension,
this request that is made that there is food
for all the children of the Father’s family.
But if we think
may God count on us to provide for all needs
one another,
do we not risk being crushed by the extent of the needs?
For me, I put my trust in Jesus Christ
who, from the little bit that is given freely and happily,
can grow and multiply beyond anything we can imagine.
I would like to say this:
if giving up a meal a week
you can save a person, or even a family, from starvation
What prevents you from starting right away?
What a joy to be able to do something concrete,
irrespective of the decisions of governments,
of inertia of some organisms!
It depends on oneself,
this can be implemented immediately.
There are people from all social situations
who enter this approach, saying:
“But what a joy to be able to do something concrete,
without having to take out a single franc more than usual
of his wallet “.
And there are people of all ages, young people, old people
who tell me to be happy to be able to make this gift.
The inner joy they experience keeps them motivated
week by week.
And that’s what keeps them going.
They experience
that here, the happiness of some is also the happiness of others!
All at once,
to reduce the suffering of the hungry and to feel better,
it’s really a joy to live and to make known!
So,
I invite you, too,
to offer calories to save lives!
(Applause)
Have you ever been to a website or newspaper,
to be struck by two images that collide?
On the one hand, too much food,
to which can be added an unbalanced diet,
small meals between meals.
Result,
the scale indicates the excess
and diets will try to burn those excess calories,
sometimes very expensive diets.
Too many calories deform the body,
fatigue the joints,
wear out the heart,
can cause life-threatening diseases.
And on the other side,
it’s a lack of calories that will eventually cause
the death of men, women, children,
at the end of a long journey of suffering.
What can we do ?
This question already worried me
when I worked as a doctor in different hospitals.
And then, when many years later,
I became a pastor.
I asked myself :
but what to do ?
Let’s take a closer look.
Figures that speak for themselves.
Every year, according to recent data –
but this is of course an estimate –
there are about 36 million people dying for lack of calories,
and for a year, too,
29 million people will die from the consequences of excess food.
The situation is paradoxical.
She is scandalous.
What can we do ?
What was tempted by some was to reduce the excesses,
a more reasonable food,
a waste hunt.
What was tried on the other side was to help the poor,
to make donations.
What is proposed here,
it is an approach that joins “excess” and “lack”
and which aims to diminish the excesses,
correct as much as possible
to arrive at a situation of balance where everyone is a winner.
Offer calories for life,
fight against hunger and get better!
Save lives
without having to take out a franc more than usual!
Concretely,
it’s about giving up a meal a week,
preferably an evening meal,
and to offer the counter-value, that is to say the money thus saved,
to a work of your choice,
that is important to you
and who fights effectively against hunger.
The simple idea of having to give up a meal,
restricted,
can give a feeling a little painful,
but it is also true
when you give a gift to someone, you do not feel hurt or frustrated.
The gift is pleasing not only to the one who receives it,
but also to the donor.
Concretely,
the night of the week I go to bed without supper,
the hollow belly,
there are gurgles, the stomach protests,
the bowels claim their due, are afraid of missing,
but I’m not hungry …
I have a desire to eat and that’s something else.
And when I want to eat, I think differently to those who are hungry
and who will be hungry the next day, the following weeks,
and this until death ensues.
It’s about empathy.
There is a feeling of “compassion”,
“Suffering with”
with those who are literally sentenced to death.
And the following days?
Well, already the next day, good surprise:
I do not feel particularly hungry.
I get up with my body and my heart ready.
And next,
I become more aware of how I feed myself.
I can avoid some automatisms,
like devouring the big package of whole chips
watching a game on TV.
And I free myself little by little from this trap.
who would have us believe that we can compensate
the little annoyances, frustrations, worries of every day
by excessive food filling.
And then, I am more aware of the quality of what I eat.
My plate contains food that is precious.
And I know it’s not a due, it’s not automatic.
Always,
the man put all his energy and all his strength
to find a way to eat,
day after day.
The way we feed ourselves,
on this earth,
say something of our way of living together.
Do I eat alone in my corner?
Do I share with others?
It is for everyone a spiritual question.
For me, who is a Christian, this question is urgent:
what are we doing
when we pray in the Lord’s Prayer this request,
“Give us today our bread today”?
It is still something other than “give me my daily bread”.
There is this community dimension,
this request that is made that there is food
for all the children of the Father’s family.
But if we think
may God count on us to provide for all needs
one another,
do we not risk being crushed by the extent of the needs?
For me, I put my trust in Jesus Christ
who, from the little bit that is given freely and happily,
can grow and multiply beyond anything we can imagine.
I would like to say this:
if giving up a meal a week
you can save a person, or even a family, from starvation
What prevents you from starting right away?
What a joy to be able to do something concrete,
irrespective of the decisions of governments,
of inertia of some organisms!
It depends on oneself,
this can be implemented immediately.
There are people from all social situations
who enter this approach, saying:
“But what a joy to be able to do something concrete,
without having to take out a single franc more than usual
of his wallet “.
And there are people of all ages, young people, old people
who tell me to be happy to be able to make this gift.
The inner joy they experience keeps them motivated
week by week.
And that’s what keeps them going.
They experience
that here, the happiness of some is also the happiness of others!
All at once,
to reduce the suffering of the hungry and to feel better,
it’s really a joy to live and to make known!
So,
I invite you, too,
to offer calories to save lives!
(Applause)
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