I'm Baaaaaack!

Last week Lisa and I went on a cruise to Bermuda. It was relaxing and fun--we were pampered and well-fed, and we went to a great little country. I was inspired many times by what we saw and heard, and so you'll hear about or trip more than a few times in the coming weeks. I hope you don't think me pretentious or worse yet boring!

Probably the main perk about cruising is the food. It's available round the clock in epic proportions. Lisa and I enjoyed four course meals each night, as well as a snack before bedtime (I had pizza every time!). I think I gained about seven pounds. It was opulent. It was decadent. It made me feel a little guilty--especially when I thought of people starving in Africa, and our own food pantry existing at an all time low of supplies.

It really hit home for me when, at the end of the week, the cruise director had a wide cross-section of the staff come on stage to be recognized and sing a song. Ironically, they sang "We Are the World", the intent being to show how diverse they were ethnically. But that song was originally written to help those children who were starving. So it hit me in the guilt spot, to think how much I threw out off my plate that week--because I had no room! There's something wrong with that picture.

Not to say we shouldn't eat well and enjoy life and travel. But to remember that there is inequity in the world and we are on the heavy end of the scale. And that it is up to us to share.
How best to do this? Perplexing...

Then today I received my Lutheran magazine--bundled this time with a gift giving guide. This catalog doesn't list CD's or gadgets or clothing--it offers you the opportunity to give to World Hunger, Disaster Relief, as well as mission work and Lutheran institutions. Great gifts that give more than once. I hope you take a look at yours and do some of your holiday shopping from it--oh, and don't forget the Fair Trade Coffee Project that brings great java to you without a middleman to swallow all the farmer's profits! (Available at kiosk in narthex.) We also seem to be collecting for the food pantry--judging from the baskets of dry and canned goods I saw in the church on my first trip over there after vacation. (here's a idea though--buy something for the pantry each time you shop!)

We are the world--we should never forget that, and we should share the abundance of God's good gifts. As for us, Lisa and I will be contributing to WH this coming Sunday. What will you do?

Stuffed and home again,
Pastor Tom