Day Twenty-four

tears of the poor
"Just as you did it to one of the least of these... you did it to me." - from Matthew 25:31-40

From today's Trek card:

The poverty all around us in Vietnam at times convicts us of our relative wealth. It can also become comonplace. Mrs. Ly, a farmer from the rural North, has showed me how insulated from poor people's needs and feelings I can become. On New Year's day, Mrs. Ly and Mrs. Ngoc, a fellow farmer, brought gifts of rice, mung beans and fruit to our office in Hanoi. As we chatted, a beggar stopped at the gate. We remained seated, almost not registering her presence. But Mrs. Ly and Mrs. Ngoc immediately got to their feet, reaching into their pockets for money to give. They, who have so little even compared to the Vietnamese people who cook and clean for us, let along us rich foreigners, were the first and only ones to respond, to give without a second thought. Mrs. Ly had personally experienced some of the hardships this person with the outstretched hands was facing. her response was one of understanding and compassion. As church workers, we seek to be a presence where life is difficult. However, we need people to be present with us as we try to overcome our insulating wealth and privilege to live out Jesus' teachings. We need people like Mrs. Ly to help us connect with poor people whom Jesus calls us to love. No matter how big or small our store of riches, we can give joyfully, freely and in overflowing measure.
-- Betsy Headrick McCrae

Questions for Today

Was there ever a time when I really didn't have enough money?

How did or does this make me eel about people who are wealthier than me?

Do I have a personal relationship with anyone who is struggling to afford the bare necessities of life?

What does my relationship with them add to my understanding of life?

Trek Day Twenty-Three

american meals
"He asked Jesus, 'And who is my neighbor?'" - from Luke 10:25-37

From today's Trek card, by Dave Schrock-Shenk:

My American Airlines flight was packed. Passengers from a canceled United Airlines flight had switched to American at the last minute. The pilot addressed us on the intercom: "We're glad we had enough seats for our friends from United. Unfortunately, we don't have enough meals. When the flight attendants come by, tell them if you're 'American,' in which case you'll get dinner, or 'United,' in which case you'll get  a soda." At first I was relieved. I was an "American passenger." I would get supper. Then I thought about my seatmates. Would I share my food with them if they were "United"?

I was relieved when my seatmates told the attendant they were also "American." But, then I started wondering if the people in the seats right behind me got food, and the people behind them. Should I share my food with them? If I started sharing, where would I stop? I didn't turn around to check. As long as I didn't see them, I was able to eat.

I face the temptation "not to look" at the hungry or homeless people in the world. But I know looking away makes me a bit more calloused, and a bit less human. Gaining an awareness of those with too little -- better yet sharing a meal with them -- makes me more human.

Questions for Today

What do I need to help me respond more faithfully to those in need?

When, if ever, do I come face to face with poor people?

How does that happen?

What values and beliefs are reflected by where I choose to live?

Trek Day Twenty-Two

squeezing the balloon?
"Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that I need." -- from Proverbs 30: 7-9

From today's Trek card:

Viola, a study tour participant from Texas, shared her story with the group that morning. She had worked at a Dockers pants factory in San Antonio until Levi-Straus moved the operation to Central America to get cheaper labor. Since then, Viola had been working with the other laid-off workers to get the benefits Levi-Strauss owed them. Later we left to visit a maquila a factory where Hondurans assemble products for export to the Northern Hemisphere. As we walked into the maquila, tour members were surprised to see a huge Dockers sign at the entrance. During our tour, the plant manager spoke of the benefits the maquila industry brought the hundreds of young men and women bent over their sewing machines, sewing as fast as they could to make their daily quota. During the workers' lunch break, Viola sat in front of a machine identical to the one she had worked on in Texas, remembering the years when she had been happy earning money to support her family. Now, a Central American woman was sitting at her sewing machine, happy to be earning money to support her family. That evening, the group was confused as they processed the day. Viola was struggling to support her family after her layoff. Yet hundreds of Hondurans, while earning wages far below what Viola had earned, were making far more than they had ever earned anywhere else.
-- Daryl Yoder-Bontrager

This week we turn from Enough for Me to Enough for All. We are asked this question: Are we so interconnected with the rest of the world as to be like a balloon that puffs out on one end when it is squeezed on the other?

The financial crisis in the US today is paralleled around the world, as almost every country experiences high unemployment and falling GDP as a result of the global pandemic. Like Viola and the rest of the work team, we may be struggling to process what it all means. Will jobs lost here reappear in other countries? Will some companies completely close and widespread unemployment become the norm?

We are glad that consumption is down and pollution is temporarily slowed. But we are worried that so many families around the world are unsure how they will put food on the table. We are feeling strengthened by the close at hand examples of civic engagement, increased volunteerism, and the outpouring of generosity toward the many Covid-related appeals; yet disheartened by the sometimes selfish and foolhardy behavior of others.

We keep saying, "We're all in this together." As we move forward, we pray for wisdome to see that it will never be enough to settle for "enough for me" without also seeking "enough for all".

Questions for Today

What would need to happen in order to have enough work for both Viola and the woman in Honduras?

Do I know anyone who is out of work today?

Where can I find spiritual resources to navigate the dilemma of all these questions about enough?

Trek Day Twenty-One

take this, it's the best I have
"Mary took a pound of costly perfume ...anointed Jesus' feet and wiped them with her hair." - from John 12:1-8

Kathy Ogle tells about her experiences working with a refugee program in Fort Worth, Texas. One day one of the refugees said to her, "We are grateful for the beautiful things people have given us. But people always say, 'Take this. We don't use it anymore.' It feels like they are giving us their throw-away things. That makes us feel bad. In my country we would say, 'Take this. It's the best that I have.'"

She explained that in our culture people often feel awkward about receiving things from others, so we sometimes try to make it seem like the gift isn't really valuable, like the recipient is doing us a favor in taking it. The more she thought about it, the more it raised questions about how we give what we give. She decided to try giving away her "excess" from an honest experience of 'Take this. It's the best that I have." The next time there was a clothing drive, she gave away one of her best blouses. It was hard. She really liked it! Then she reflected on her time spent in other cultures. A home where the household's only chicken was killed and served to her for a meal. The times when the only or best chair was where she was expected to sit as they all sat on the floor or stood.

It is a challenge to grow as a giver, as we follow the Giver of all life. Remembering how Jesus praised Mary for the costly, freely given gift of love, we are humbled to realize how often we cling tightly to what we could release in love for others.

Questions for Today

When have I most joyfully given to someone in need?

What allowed me to give so joyfully?

Does the idea of reducing my use of things feel freeing or restrictive?

Are there others who are good examples to me of the generous, fulfilled life?

Trek Day Twenty

growing corn
"prosper the work of our hands!" -nfrom Psalm 90:13-17

Dave Schrock-Shenk tells of  a global service-learning tour to a Mexican farm. A North American member of the tour group asked many questions, then calculated the labor costs paid by the Mexican farmer to the local women who were weeding the corn. Then he asked how much he paid to rent the field and maintain the plow. Knowing the local cost of corn, he realized the farmer was paying as much to grow his own corn as he would to just buy the finished product at the market from a larger grower. The tour member asked, "Why do you bother growing it?" The farmer gazed at his beautiful fields and his neighbors working together, then looked back at the visitor, confused. Schenk says,

Although one man spoke Spanish and the other English, it was not language that separated them, but their different views of life. The North American used numbers to evaluate corn as a finished product. The Mexican farmer valued the experience of growing corn for the way it maintained his relationships with people in his village, preserved the way of life handed down to him and allowed him the physical sensation and beauty of working in his cornfield.

Questions for Today

Who grows the food I eat?

How far does my food travel to get to my plate?

Are there ways I can strengthen by relationship with local growers 

who are giving their all to build a more sustainable and just food system in my area?

Trek Day Nineteen

cycle of breath
"God saw everything that God had made, and indeed, it was very good" - from Genesis 1

In today's reflection, Reina C. Neufeldt talks about the experiences of being a cyclist-commuter. Biking to and from work allows some "downtime" of enjoying the trees, birds, flowers and more, while also avoiding the sweaty crush of people on public transportation or the bad-tempered drivers on jammed-up roads. Lately, though, the effects of exhaust from cars and buses has resulted in raspy gasps for air. The choice to wear an air-filter mask was not a hard decision.

"I prefer to keep my lungs, even if I look stupid. The mask is hot and stifling and I can no longer smell the scent of hot grass in the sun, damp earth in the morning or azaleas in full bloom. What a dilemma: to smell the earth or preserve my lungs. We are linked, you and I, by the world we live in and the air we breathe."

Since the Covid 19 pandemic, we have literally seen the effects of our energy use, and the resultant demise of air quality. In Nepal, Mount Everest is now visible from 120 miles away -- the first time in living memory. We have become so accustomed to the terrible air quality in many places, that we are stunned at what a difference the dramatic reduction in CO2 emissions has made in a very short period of time. The same phenomena is evident in virtually every major city around the world -- people are noticing they can see more, smell more, and breathe more easily.

From a public health perspective, there is already some evidence that there is a relationship between air quality prior to infection with Covid-19 and death tolls in cities around the world. The more polluted the air you were breathing before, the more likely the virus will kill you. NYTimes: air pollution and Covid

In authentic gratitude for God's amazing gift of this created world, what lifestyle changes are we willing to make permanent after the wake-up call of this global pandemic? How much is enough stuff? (Those global cities with horrific pollution are the places from which our cheap t-shirts and toys come.) How much is enough travel? (The US uses far more fossil fuels than other nations because we are in love with our cars, especially the gas-guzzling kind.) How many of the miles we have not driven in the last two months did we really not need to drive anyway?

Here is a challenge for self-examination:
Get out a pen and paper and calculate how many miles your household drove in 2019, all vehicles combined. (hint: sometimes your auto insurance provider requires this documentation.) Use each car's average fuel efficiency to figure out how many pounds of carbon dioxide you released into the atmosphere last year. Every gallon of gasoline burned releases 5 and haf pounds of CO2 into the air. This is why higher mpg equals less pollution in the air.

Questions for Today

On what occasions could I lower my fuel consumption by 

ride-sharing, public transportation, walking or biking?

What benefits might I discover in using public transport or walking more?

How might I reduce my emissions by combining my car-use errands into a one day excursion with a well-planned out route?

Trek Day Eighteen

carrying water
"The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it." -- from Psalm 24:1-6

Catherine Mumaw tells the story of eleven-year-old Hari, the boy who pumps her water from an underground well and transports it by the bucketful to a ground-level tank. This water, which is then pumped by electric motor into a roof tank on her home in Nepal, is the source of all the water that sustains her standards. Thanks to Hari, from inside her home she can then access filtered drinking and cooking water, wash her clothes and flush her toilet. Hari is not in school and has limited options on the horizon, but he is a happy boy. He is always glad to see Catherine and grateful to have a job. She reflects on how what she considers so basic -- a human right and necessity -- comes to her at a human cost. And she says she recalls Hari's face every time she turns on the tap, resulting in her using less water than ever before in her life.

In the side bar on the back of this Trek card, we are told:

Most people in North America don't have a Hari to pump their water. 

But the water has to be brought into our homes somehow.

The "Hari" of North America is electricity. Electricity pumps our water, keeps our food cold 

then cooks it and lights our homes. Yet while electricity is relatively cheap, 

there is a high cost to the earth for the immense amount of power we use.

Most people in North America use electricity 

generated by burning fossil fuels -- coal, oil and gas.

These fuels are dirty to produce, 

and they emit carbon dioxide when burned. 

The average Canadian needs almost 6 acres of forestland 

to absorb the CO2 they produce each year. 

The average U.S. citizen needs even more.

Questions for Today

How much water would I use each day if I had to pump or carry it by hand?

Have I invested any of the income available to me in making energy conscious improvements to my household appliances?

Have I invested the time and money needed to lower my resource use of water, heat and air conditioning?

How might I offset some of the impact of my energy use by supporting reforestation or greener land management 

to absorb more of the CO2 I am still responsible for pumping into the atmosphere?

Trek Day Seventeen

in the palace of the poor
"This poor widow has given more than all those who are contributing..." -- from Mark 12:38-44

Today, let's START with the questions:

Questions for Today

What is required to treat someone royally?

What makes someone see your home as a palace not a hovel?

Are there people in my community I would never invite into my home?

Why would I not invite them?  

Return to these questions after reading the story from a global worker named Max Edgar:

Vietnamese celebrate Tet, the lunar new year, by donning new clothing, visiting friends and eating special foods. One year Ba Hein, a refugee in a camp near the town of Quang Ngai, invited us to enjoy a Tet meal with her. We reached her home late in the afternoon. Ba Hein's one-room bamboo and mud house was in the center of the camp. The kitchen was a lean-to in the back. Ba Hein graciously invited us to sit on low stools drawn up to a table. In a corner of her house I saw family photogrpahs, including one of a young man and a small child. She said they were her husband and daughter who had been killed by American artillery in the war. Ba Hein served tea from a pot with a borken spout. The cups were beer cans, scrubbed immaculately clean. As we sipped tea, Ba Hein busied herself preparing and serving the few dishes. She did not apologieze for the meager fare or for the sad state of her home. She served that meal with dignity, confident her hospitality was as valuable as that of the wealthiest homes in Quang Ngai. As we left, I turned to bid Ba Hein farewell. She stood at the door, strong and defiant, smiling confidently. I had been serve a mean as though I were a king, in the palace of the poor.

Trek Day Sixteen

travel lightly on this earth
"Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?" - from Matthew 6:24-33

Years ago a guest from New Zealand who was traveling across the US stayed at my home for a few nights. I was amazed that she had all her belongings for her two month trek in a small backpack. I had traveled internationally only once, and had taken four times as much stuff with me.  How much is enough when you are traveling? 

When packing for a trip, I am often guided by my fears of not having something I might want. So I take lots of options, not knowing for sure what "the perfect choice" will be days later. I don't consider myself a clothes horse, but I definitely have more clothes than I actually need. Clothing gives us a way to project our creativity and originality, as well as keep us comfortable in different kinds of weather.  If I'm honest, it wouldn't be difficult to take much less when I travel, and it would take the stress out of deciding what to wear each day. It would be great to feel less burdened when on the road.

Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? How much extra am I carrying through life that adds to the burdens of my day.

Questions for Today

How do my clothes reflect my personality and my values?

How do the clothes we wear distinguish between the rich and the poor?

Did the people who made my clothes get a fair wage for their work?

What happens to clothes I wear when I am done with them?