A Concord Pastor Comments: NIGHT PRAYER: Tuesday 5/4

I needed some groceries today so I went shopping, Lord

and later this afternoon I had a kind of revelation

and I realized a few things I usually take for granted...

I only had to check my fridge and the kitchen cabinets - not my wallet - before getting in my car to go to the supermarket. I always have money to buy groceries. I've never not had enough money to go grocery shopping. At the store, I bought what I needed and wanted, picking out the brands I prefer, based on my taste and not on my budget. I didn't keep a running total of what I was buying as I went up and down the aisles - I didn't have to. At the checkout, I wasn't worried about the bottom line because I knew I could cover it - easily.

Unbagging my purchases back home in my kitchen, I found myself stocking shelves that already stored a fair amount of food. It dawned on me that there's always food in my kitchen - even when I "need" to go grocery shopping, I have plenty of food already at hand. When it came time to make dinner for myself, I took some time to decide what I would prepare. I can choose every night what I want for supper. And if nothing in the larder looks particularly interesting, I can go to a restaurant or call in an order for take-out. And it doesn't have to be a special occasion - no more special than my wanting a change of pace and taste. I will not go to bed hungry tonight, Lord. In fact, in 74 years, I've never gone to bed hungry. And my kitchen is always ready to offer me a snack in the evening if I choose to cheat on my diet.

I take all these things for granted, Lord, in a town where some folks seek out an Open Table place to make sure they and their children have supper. I take these things for granted in a state and a nation that provides food subsidies for those who would otherwise go to bed hungry most nights of the week. I take all this for granted in a culture where hundreds of thousands of men, women and children are homeless tonight with not kitchen, bedroom or bathroom at hand. I take all this for granted in a world where nearly 700 million people go hungry every day.

As I said, Lord, this was something of a revelation to me - not in the sense that I didn't know the facts but rather in the way the facts I know and the comfort that's mine met up today in an unusually frank and startling fashion.

For all I have, I'm grateful, Lord. For all I take for granted, I ask your pardon. And for all those who are hungry in my world, I pray you open my heart with a generosity as full and as nurturing as the food on my table and the food in my fridge and kitchen cabinets tonight.

Protect us, Lord, while we're awake

(especially those who lie in bed hungry)

and watch over us as we sleep

(especially those who sleep on an empty stomach)

that awake, we might tend to the needs of our sisters and brothers

and asleep, rest in peace that we've shared what we have

with those who have none...

Amen.

God of Justice by Tim Hughes

God of justice, Savior to all

Came to rescue the weak and the poor

Chose to serve and not be served