Memorials, numbers, and real people

By Vernita Kennen, co-chair, Saint Paul Area Synod Hunger Work Group

Today I am still thinking and reading about the many tenth anniversary events for the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Perhaps you are, too, and maybe you were one of the many who attended a special ecumenical event in remembrance. Your pastor(s) may have made mention of the anniversary during the sermon and/or included it in the prayers of the people. In fact, the commemoration and conversation about it were difficult to avoid.

With all of the attention given to the 9/11 anniversary, I am struck by how the loss of lives in that tragic series of events seem to overshadow the daily loss of lives by those who do not have enough food. While I certainly do not want to make the loss of any life insignificant, the numbers continue to assail me. Each death, no matter if lost in a tragedy like 9/11 or through insufficient food, is the death of a real person.

Ten years later, terrorism still exists in our world. Unfortunately there are also many more hungry people. And, after much progress in the struggle against hunger in the 1980s and 90s, a plateau was reached and the numbers are climbing again.

The causes are many but include weather conditions, political and economic turmoil, and population growth. Today there are more hungry people in the world than the combined population of the United States, Canada, and the European Union! (Facts from the UN Food and Agricultural Organization, FAO)

Each death is important to God who creates and loves all. I ask God to help me remember that—and do something to be about God’s work with my hands today and every day.