Today 5 of us headed over the Skyway Bridge to Palmetto to serve lunch to over 100 people who are on the Fair Food March sponsored by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers from Fort Myers to Lakeland to the Publix Headquarters. We set up the burritos, apples, chips, and drinks on tables under the trees on the lawn of a Methodist church. All was ready. Then along came the marchers. Young children, young adults, middle aged and older adults. Some Euro, some Afro, some Latino. An eclectic array. And here we were, 5 middle American white people serving lunch. There was plenty of food. And much gratitude.
And there was a fair amount of conversation. What was memorable? The young children who are walking. The senior citizens who are walking. The college age students who could be spending their break at the beach but instead are walking in solidarity with those who provide our food. The workers who are in the midst of prime picking season and are taking two weeks off, unpaid, from working in the fields to work for justice. This is necessary income for these subsistence workers, and yet here they are. Missing two weeks pay. What would you give up two weeks pay for? Would it be to advocate for justice? And walking many miles, which may very well be easier than the work that is done in the fields.
Those of us who served lunch offered time to prepare and serve the food. We offered the food which we had purchased. We offered ourselves as listeners. We offered the support and solidarity of our congregation. Ed Helm offered a rendition of Mark Twain. But I think that each of us would say that we received far more than we offered. As I told them in my brief remarks, “We have given you food for your bodies, but you inspire us and give us food for our spirits.”
“One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” [Deuteronomy 8:3] Today, I believe we heard God speaking.
Prayer: Help us not to get so absorbed in our own agendas and routines that we neglect the opportunities that are given to us to hear God speaking. May we listen for God in the many movements for justice which surround us. Lent is a time to listen. May we listen and know God in the voice and the face of another. Amen.
Note: Look for pictures of the march and of the lunch on the church website: lakewooducc.org
Lakewood United Church of Christ 