Feeding the World's Famine

Four hundred million people in the world are estimated to be suffering from acute malnutrition, some one tenth of the world population. Famine, though historically a scourge of humanity, has impelled effort and sometimes progress. But today in large areas of the earth malnutrition and the conditions fostering it appear to inhibit people from reaching the necessary lift-off point and escape velocity to rise out of these conditions. What can Christian Science bring to this situation?

Sometimes an individual is hungry or ill-fed because of personal factors—personal unemployment, lack, disease. The record of Christian Science includes many instances of such persons being healed and freed when they have grasped the spiritual facts that God, Spirit, is the only creator and that man, being wholly spiritual, is not dependent on material sustenance. Mrs. Eddy writes, "The fact is, food does not affect the absolute Life of man, and this becomes self-evident, when we learn that God is our Life." ^{Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 388 ;} The greatest gift any of us can offer a hungry world is to help make available the spiritual truths whose healing and liberating power we have already experienced ourselves.

But more is required. On this the Bible is crystal-clear. Until our neighbors feel able to accept and profit by what is offered spiritually, we have a duty to help care for their immediate physical needs. Christ Jesus makes this point in his parable of the sheep and goats. Here the Son of man is represented as saying, "Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me." ^{Matt. 25:45 ;} The Epistle of James vigorously drives home the same point, "If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?" ^{James 2:15, 16 ;}

The dawning in human thought of the spiritually scientific facts of God and man is shaking material traditions and dependence to a depth to which they have not been shaken since the time of Jesus. Of this immense stir Mrs. Eddy writes, "The breaking up of material beliefs may seem to be famine and pestilence, want and woe, sin, sickness, and death, which assume new phases until their nothingness appears." ^{Science and Health, p. 96 ;} Famine is sometimes assuming new phases today, and we perceive it not just as an occasional local emergency but as endemic among whole populations.

What then can each of us do in this matter? Prayer is the most potent instrument of all: the persistent recognition that divine Love tenderly cares for its spiritual creation, that it supplies all spiritual good, and that it meets every human need at the point of that need—harvests, grain, rice, effectively distributed.

In prayer we can also acknowledge that peoples and governments everywhere can express enough of divine Love to really care about helping the famine-stricken and undernourished. And that they can express enough of divine intelligence to direct their caring toward policies and programs that will not produce dangerous side effects but will really replace famine with sufficiency and self-reliance.

Some of us, as well as praying, may involve ourselves in activities directly or indirectly concerned with famine relief. But as a voter or member of the public every one of us can do his part in supporting lawmakers and policies that are likely to be most effective in this area; and we can rely on prayer to guide us aright in the giving of this support. No listening to human discussion or exchange of opinions, however thoughtful, can take the place of reliance on prayer. Praying and acting in line with divine guidance, we will best fulfill our duty to God and will best care for our fellowmen.

In Miscellaneous Writings Mrs. Eddy quotes two stanzas of verse that include these lines:

In the paragraphs preceding this quotation Mrs. Eddy describes the rule for demonstrating Christian Science. Then she adds: "And remember, a pure faith in humanity will subject one to deception; the uses of good, to abuses from evil; and calm strength will enrage evil. But the very heavens shall laugh at them, and move majestically to your defense when the armies of earth press hard upon you."

In our struggle to feed the world's famine mortal beliefs of lack and scarcity may indeed set up obstinate resistance. Then it is for us to acknowledge even more persistently the presence of the caring that reflects infinite divine Love and the direction that reflects infinite divine intelligence. As we do this, the seeds each of us sows will produce abundantly and will play their part in feeding those four hundred million hungry mouths.