DAY 27: Open My Eyes

Step Back And Look At Hunger

Mark 6:30-44

He said to them, "Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while."

Sometimes getting a decent perspective on our own lives can be pretty tough. Think about those magnified photos in children's magazines where the image on the paper looks like something totally foreign, like a brown alien landscape. You stare and stare, but it doesn't look like anything you've ever seen. When you flip to the back of the book for the answer, expecting it to be something you've never heard of, it simply says "a penny."

Sometimes we're just too close to a thing to get any clear understanding of it. It's pretty easy to go about our lives day-to-day without seeing the bigger picture. Perhaps that's why Jesus told his crew to go off for a while by themselves. Some pretty intense stuff had just happened, namely the murder of John the Baptist, and now they needed some time away to rest, eat, and sort things out for themselves. We all need this. Stepping back is key to understanding our role in the world. Getting a broader perspective is sometimes the only way to see the truth about something, whether it's the part we play in world hunger or the penny in our pocket.

How can I step back to see my life more clearly?

Prayer:
Living God, help me to gain a new perspective on my life. Show me how to see others and myself as your children. Let Christ be the lens by which I view the world. Amen

Action step:

Get away from it all. Take a group of friends somewhere away from your routine (in nature if possible) and use the time to reflect on your use of resources.
Bring food or snacks with you for the time you are away together and see if you can figure out where each item was farmed or created. How many different places and people were involved from it's beginning to holding it in your hand?
Commit yourself to learning more about food production and distribution.

contributed by Nadia Bolz-Weber