are you hungry?

“People are hungry to be brought closer to the world, even its hard parts...I believe that which separates action from inaction...is not indifference. It is distance. May it fall away.”

Lately the word 'famine' seems to stick in my throat somewhere between the loss for words and a lack of understanding. And it's hard to grapple with the news reports. Sometimes the reports make me angry. Sometimes they make me sad. And sometimes I turn away from them and want to pretend I didn't see them.

And while East Africa experiences the worst famine its seen in 60 years I feel a world away. And I am. 

But just because I live in a world that is removed from what is happening doesn't mean I need to be removed. It's exactly when these things are going on that I need to become involved. Because we're not indifferent to what is going on. We just feel like action is difficult, and action needs to happen somewhere else. And so the good news is that action is here, and action is now. Maybe it's in a donation, hopefully it's in prayer. And maybe as we join in prayer with our brothers and sisters the distance will fall away. 

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The above quote is from the book Six Months in Sudan by Dr. James Maskalyk.  Here is the quote in full: 

“People are hungry to be brought closer to the world, even its hard parts. I went to Sudan, and am writing about it again, because I believe that which separates action from inaction is the same thing that separates my friends from Sudan. It is not indifference. It is distance. May it fall away.”