Prayer

 “You pray for the hungry. Then you feed them. This is how prayer works.”

These are the words of Pope Francis. I don't always go along with voices from the Vatican, but I get this. I get it on a very deep level. It fits in pretty well with my own notion regarding "deeds not words." I have been known, from time to time, to talk endlessly about causes I support or would like everyone to support because I am far too busy talking about them to actually do anything except spread words around. 

So, now that's out of the way, let's go ahead and feed some people. My family and I are asking you, once you've finished praying, to feed some people. I am suggesting that you donate to my school's Virtual Food Drive. This effort is dedicated to serve those in Alameda County, where I live. I can vouch for these folks and the work that they do. The Alameda County Community Food Bank is offering you a tax-deductible opportunity to put some weight behind my words. And yours. 

And speaking of weight, now that I have made my pitch, I will attempt to reinforced the suggestion by relating the following anecdote: Around the fourth day of my holiday break, I hopped on the scale after my morning workout and admonished myself. For eating too much. It only took a moment for the shame of that sentiment to fully settle in before I decided to stick it here in my plea for contributions. One in six Americans will experience food insecurity, and that number continues to grow while the pandemic continues. The time that I spend looking in my refrigerator and complain about not having anything to eat when I can't see the back of the top shelf because it is so crowded with - yes, you guessed it - food is time I could be spending working on making good things happen. 

I can understand that you may not be swayed by these words. There are a kerjillion different charities and concerns that could be the place where your tax deductible donations land. As a family, we spent a few evenings discussing where we would like to spend our donor dollars. The list was extensive. But we couldn't ignore the reality of children here in our community going hungry. And if you're keen to be feeding those in your own neighborhood, use this handy link to locate a food bank in your area. 

And on the way out, I'll just drop this old nursery rhyme as Holiday Punctuation: 

Christmas is coming, the geese are getting fat

Please put a penny in the old man's hat

If you haven't got a penny, a ha'penny will do

If you haven't got a ha'penny, then God bless you!