One Meal a Day

I am getting an education in living on the edge.  I was talking with someone who said that his goal is to be able to have one meal a day; that is what he lives on.

Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, "I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way." - Matthew 15:32

We have all heard the expression "Eat, drink and be merry" which comes from Ecclesiastes.  It is part of a greater message, which is about the futility of life.  While we toil at our jobs, working hard to make a living, we should enjoy ourselves, because it will all end and we will have nothing.

In all, it is not a very positive message.  It is cynical and depressing, actually.  But in the apparent hopelessness of the author, it can lead us to a decision to help those in need, to be concerned for them as Jesus was on the mount.

If we send people away hungry, what will become of them?  Shouldn't we care?

Yes, we tend to be judgmental about the state of others.  If they have nothing, is it not their own fault?
Perhaps, but does that even matter?

The lesson I am learning from those who live on food stamps until they run out, and then on whatever meal they can find and whatever supplement they can manage to get, is that I have no clue what it is like to live this way.

That is truly a good thing for me, but Jesus wants me to be aware, is not to know.  If I cannot know what it is like first hand, I can have compassion for those who do and I can do something for them.

So, what if we all tried one day to reduce our intake to just one meal, just to see what it is like.  If we manage to make it through the day on that one meal and have nothing else, what would it teach us?

And then if we do make it through that day and we go a second day and a third, would we feel in our hunger pangs a sense of compassion for those who live this way?  Or will we be proud of ourselves for accepting the challenge and making it through?

I know I will have a hard time.  Maybe that is a good reason to do it.

More to come...