“Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread.”
A bit of the Lord’s Prayer that we might say every so often. We might even reflect on it, but how often do we wonder how many people across the world actually receive their ‘daily bread’. Not just spiritual sustenance, but physical nutrients.
Everyone understands that without food you’re hungry; it’s a biological fact. We need energy to keep going. Humans need food to survive; it’s that simple.
Yet tonight, nearly a billion people will go to bed hungry. That’s 1 in 8 of the world’s population. When we pray for “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven”, is this what God’s kingdom should look like?
Global hunger has been a problem as long as we’ve been alive. We’ve all got an idea of what it looks like because we’ve seen the pictures of children with bloated stomachs on TV, or the homeless lady down the street who begs for money. But we’ve become apathetic because it’s always been there and it seems too hard to fix.
Which is where we introduce “if”. Such a small word, it’s not even given an individual action in charades. Yet “if” introduces an alternative viewpoint. If gives us a glimpse of how different the world could be. “If” is an ambitious word which is small but thinks big.
The Christian Aid Collective is part of a joint campaign that wants to end hunger. It’s called ENOUGH FOOD FOR EVERYONE IF. It’s made up of over 100 organisations who agree that hunger needs to be tackled. And everyone is invited to join in.
There is enough food for everyone in the world. The problem isn’t overpopulation, but the way food is grown, distributed and consumed. We don’t need to give money to make hunger end, but we do need to join in by standing up and taking action to make a difference.
It’s about raising awareness - telling our friends that the world is unfair and that we want to make a difference. It’s about signing up and adding our name to petitions that could change our world. It’s about talking to our local MP because they represent our views, and saying that we don’t want to live in a world where people die from hunger.
Often we don’t think we can do anything. We’re just students; we’re just one person. But what if we were the generation to kick start the beginning of the end of hunger?
“Give us today our daily bread.” Not just a prayer for individuals. “Give us today our daily bread.” A prayer for our world. And not just a prayer but an action. This year we’ve got an opportunity to join in and make a difference.
Check out how to get involved here.
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Jo is interning for our friends @TheCAcollective. You can follow her on twitter here; @Joanna_Cal
