Stephen Colbert on Global Food Crisis

I ran across this video on a food blog I occasionally visit. If Stephen Colbert is reporting on it, it MUST be important!

Food Crisis

Lately I've been trying to stay at least slightly more informed about what's going on in the world, thanks to the handy-dandy Google Reader. Hooray, a new distraction on the internets! Just what my studies need...

Anyway, I have noticed an alarming motif in world news: high food prices, leading to food shortages and domestic unrest. A search for "food" in the BBC headlines for the past couple of weeks reveals the following:

• "France to double food aid budget" for poor countries b/c of rising prices (4/18)
  
• "South Africans march over food prices" (4/17)
• "EU warns against food export bans" - warning food producers "not to restrict exports because of rising prices" (4/17)
• "North Korea 'faces food crisis'" (4/16)
• "Steep rise in Chinese food prices" - up 21% this year (4/16)
• In Afghanistan, poor families are "marrying off their girls for food" (4/15)
• "Bangladesh faces growing queues as food prices soar" (4/10)
• "Hungry mob attacks Haiti palace" - "in protest at rising food prices" (4/8)

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. I haven't even mentioned the articles on some of the possible reasons for what might be the beginnings of a global food crisis, as voices debate the controversial issue of increased production of biofuels and cry for fundamental changes in the global food system as a whole.

What response should we give? Prayer, yes; increased awareness, yes - but this does not seem enough. But as Christians, is this enough?

How Long

This heaviness upon my soul--
absorbed
original

echoes of the martyrs' blood-stained voices
groaning bodiless for justice.

These cries belie the promise of spring--
autumn leaves pressed by winter's heavy hand
losing themselves
resurrected in flowerbeds.

Where are the daffodils?
How long
oh Lord?

~ARH, 04.18.08~

Fragment of the Day

(Rough, I know. Grace, I ask.)

So here I am again
before this tree.
I thought I'd come so far
I had no need
for thorny crown
and scarlet cloak--
my travels started at this very place
so long ago,
so long ago.

World's wisdom taught me
I had far to go
before I earned my rest.
But fleeting miles, passing years,
lingering fears, lasting tears
bring me once again before your throne.
Your cross.
Altered yet unchanged in my need for
Your tree.
My rest.

~ARH 03.08~

A Prayer for the New Day

Lord God, Father of Light,

In the newness of this day, when all things are refreshed by your sustaining grace, we repent of the darknesses to which we cling. Forgive us, Lord, for continually turning to our own power and calling it Your work. Let Your light penetrate our bodies and our souls, and give us the strength to face our sins and even our finitude head-on. Forgive us for fearfully hiding our brokenness beneath the mask of competence. Teach us, Holy Father, to approach You and one another without pretense.

Lord, we desire to serve You, but too often our desire to serve becomes simply the "order of the day," and we fall into the trap of normalcy, straying far from the foot of the cross. Show us our need to return to You in humility each day. Have mercy on Your leaders, oh Lord. Protect Your people from the blindnesses of those who serve. Lord Christ, who by the Spirit opened the eyes of those whom You met on the Road to Emmaus, open our eyes as well, we pray: that we may see the error of our ways in the piercing, healing light of Your Presence.

~Caravaggio, The Supper in Emmaus, 1602~

Feast of John Donne

I am still an English major at heart. So, when I was skimming TitusOneNine today, I was delighted to discover that Anglicans celebrate the Feast of John Donne! Although the official day for this year's celebration is past (March 31), in honor of a faithful churchman and excellent poet:

Holy Sonnet I

Thou hast made me, and shall thy work decay?
Repair me now, for now mine end doth haste;
I run to death, and death meets me as fast,
And all my pleasures are like yesterday.
I dare not move my dim eyes any way,
Despair behind, and death before doth cast
Such terror, and my feeble flesh doth waste
By sin in it, which it towards hell doth weigh.
Only thou art above, and when towards thee
By thy leave I can look, I rise again;
But our old subtle foe so tempteth me
That not one hour myself I can sustain.
Thy grace may wing me to prevent his art,
And thou like adamant draw mine iron heart.

~John Donne~