Be the good

This has been a terrible week.

Whether it’s a man who decides to bring an arsenal to a hotel and open fire on people attending a music festival or a president who is more upset about a hurricane’s affect on his budget than he is over a million U.S. citizens who do not have access to safe drinking water, there’s bound to be something in the news every day that will enrage and/or disgust you.

It’s overwhelming.

But in the midst of all of the awfulness, you can find people trying to do good if you look. After the Las Vegas shooting so many people came to donate blood that lines stretched for blocks.

On Sunday, I joined other members of my small church in helping to assemble 10,000 meals for Rise Against Hunger after our worship service on World Communion Sunday.

Rise Against Hunger is an international organization that is devoted to ending world hunger. While one focus is on providing crisis support, Rise Against Hunger also works with local partners to make sure that children get food so they can go to school instead of needing to work (or beg) just to have something to eat.

I’m lucky enough that I can’t imagine what it is like to really be hungry and to have no idea when or where my next meal is coming from. But that’s a reality for too many people in our world. I don’t imagine that the two hours we spent on a Sunday afternoon are going to solve the problem, but we did something that we could to help.

Later this month, I’ll be participating in the Cranford CROP Walk to raise money to fight hunger both within our local area and around the world. It’s something that I can do. And if you can, I’d appreciate your help – whether in the form of financial contributions, prayer or just good thoughts.

We can’t let ourselves get so caught up in anger or despair that we give up. We’ve got to believe that there is good in the world, and then do what we can to be the good in the world.