How often are we called upon to provide food for those who need it? It may be a hungry child--our own or someone else's. It may be for someone who is homeless, an older adult who can no longer prepare their own meals, or someone who is sick or who has sustained an injury that limits their mobility. Hurricane Harvey left many in need. Irma is looming. We provide food to others because we know that food is essential to human survival, but we also give food for other reasons. I suspect that our offers of food are a way of bonding with others, of saying that they, and we, matter. We provide sustenance to comfort ourselves as well as others. The food we cook and share helps us create and sustain significant relationships and community. Martin Luther King echoed a message from the Gospel when he said, "Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?" Our offers of "comfort food" to those in need--all our brothers and sisters--are, at their foundation, responses to that question.
