I’ve been thinking a lot this past month about choices in the context of the food we eat. We are inundated with choices – what to eat, where to eat, how often to eat, what to buy next time we’re at the store, what treats to buy for our kids, what to bring to that next get together, which cereal to buy. And so on, and so on. I would be remiss to let this month go by without thinking about and responding, even in a small way, to the needs of those around us who are without real choices. Homelessness has got to be among the most heart-rending problems this country faces. When those in our immediate community find themselves stripped of choices time after time after time, how can we look the other way? How can we isolate ourselves because we’d prefer not to see it?
I’m not here to say I have any special insight or answer. I’m not here to announce that I have a special call to serve the homeless. I am here to say that I’d rather do something than nothing, evening if that something is small. Something is a start. If I do something, and you do something, and our kids do something, those “somethings” add up.
So here’s a small, simple “something” that I’d invite you to participate in with our family. It is an easy and fun thing to do, especially if you have kids. We are organizing a "Cereal Drive" on behalf of Simpson Housing Services, a homeless shelter in Minneapolis. Each morning before the overnight guests leave for the day, Simpson House serves breakfast. They typically feed about 90 people. So, when you are at the grocery store next, would you consider buying an extra box or two of cereal? Any kind is fine, but preferably healthy rather than sugary. Our family will load up the cereal and deliver it to Simpson House in Minneapolis next week.
We'd love to have you drop the cereal off at our house by next Tuesday, February 8. If you don't find us home, feel free to leave it on our front porch. {If you don’t know where we live, e-mail me or leave me a comment and we’ll connect on the details.} Alternatively, if you’re part of our church family, we will be there on Sunday and you can get it to us then. If you really want to participate, but have no way to get the cereal to me, get ahold of me and we'll figure something out.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Matthew 25:34-40
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