Finding God in the Mysteries of every day

Week 11 Day 2

Finding God in the Mysteries of every day

Abundance and famine?

Genesis 41:27 The seven lean, ugly cows that came up afterward are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind: They are seven years of famine.

            “It’s zucchini time. Hooray!”  Six weeks later, “It’s still zucchini time, when will it ever end?”

            God has created the world to produce such an abundance of life giving sustenance that I often wonder at the kinds of famine we have seen in out lifetimes. For thirty five years I was involved in various “compassionate” feeding programs. Many were helped, some took advantage dishonestly. Regardless, most shortfalls in the capacity to have people able to feed themselves, I believe, are attributable to human greed, criminal corruption, and ignorant indifference.

            We see massive movement of peoples from one hemisphere to another and decry the “invading immigrant”, but looking to scripture, we see that the concept is not new. Time magazine several years ago published and interesting article about the so called “mother tongue”. The article hypothesized that every language of the world could be traced back through antiquity to the so called “Rift valley” in Africa. (Curiously, this assertion also lines up with the creation story found in the book of Genesis.) From the very beginning peoples were motivated by the constant quest for better living conditions. What we are seeing today should ,therefore,  come as no surprise.

            I have always loved the spirit of sharing that comes about this time of year. People everywhere are willing to share their zucchini with you. Back in upstate NY we would often find the abundant vegetable tossed in our cars as we came out from Church on a Sunday, or left surreptitiously on the door step of our homes while we were out running errands. Cheer up, tomato season is coming.

            While we busy ourselves with one thousand recipes for zucchini, and prepare for one thousand and one recipes for tomatoes, give a thought for one moment to the larger reality of the movement of peoples around the world. Pagan cultures are increasingly coming into contact with at least nominally Christina cultures. Is this perhaps one of the greatest missionary opportunities God has ever brought about. Let’s be on our toes here. Maybe, a little grace, a little zucchini bread could go a long way down the road of sharing the love of Jesus.