The world needs soup.
Unfortunately, millions of people cannot even
have or afford a decent cup of hot soup. So many people are so poor they
gargle water for breakfast, take hot water for lunch, and force themselves to
sleep at night in place of supper. Mas emphatic sa Tagalog: Marami tayong kababayan na mumog
ang agahan, nilagang tubig ang tanghalian, at tulog ang hapunan.
When Esau, in the Genesis 25. 29-34, came to his brother, he was close to death. And he asked for soup. For billions of dispossessed people who struggle against death forces everyday, the promise of life in its fullness is actually a hot bowl of soup. For countless people who face the violence of starvation each and every moment of their lives, God’s shalom is a hot bowl of soup.
When our sisters and brothers’ homes and livelihood are destroyed by flash floods, relief operations bring soup. When schools offer feeding programs to malnourished grade school children, they are fed soup. When our churches and church-related institutions welcome the homeless and street-children into our “soup kitchens,” guess what we offer them?
But you and I know this, soup is more than food for the hungry and drink for the thirsty. It is also just wages for workers, homes for the homeless, justice for the oppressed, care for the sick and dying, welcome to the stranger, land for the landless, liberation for those in bondage and captivity, solidarity with those whose only hope is God.
The soup that can meet the world’s hunger is the soup we cook together. Every one contributing what each can. Because we are each other’s keepers. If God is our parent, then all of us are sisters and brothers.
Those of us who call ourselves Christian do not have the monopoly on soup. We have an ingredient to share. This is probably why Jesus calls the church, salt of the earth. Soup tastes better with salt.
But soup does not need salt to be soup!
When Esau, in the Genesis 25. 29-34, came to his brother, he was close to death. And he asked for soup. For billions of dispossessed people who struggle against death forces everyday, the promise of life in its fullness is actually a hot bowl of soup. For countless people who face the violence of starvation each and every moment of their lives, God’s shalom is a hot bowl of soup.
When our sisters and brothers’ homes and livelihood are destroyed by flash floods, relief operations bring soup. When schools offer feeding programs to malnourished grade school children, they are fed soup. When our churches and church-related institutions welcome the homeless and street-children into our “soup kitchens,” guess what we offer them?
But you and I know this, soup is more than food for the hungry and drink for the thirsty. It is also just wages for workers, homes for the homeless, justice for the oppressed, care for the sick and dying, welcome to the stranger, land for the landless, liberation for those in bondage and captivity, solidarity with those whose only hope is God.
The soup that can meet the world’s hunger is the soup we cook together. Every one contributing what each can. Because we are each other’s keepers. If God is our parent, then all of us are sisters and brothers.
Those of us who call ourselves Christian do not have the monopoly on soup. We have an ingredient to share. This is probably why Jesus calls the church, salt of the earth. Soup tastes better with salt.
But soup does not need salt to be soup!
No comments:
Post a Comment