OUR Daily Bread

One of the most often overlooked words of the Lord's Prayer is the word "our". Jesus said to pray for "our daily bread." Most often, I suspect, we personalize it to the point where the poor and hungry fall off our spiritual radar. But Jesus chose his words carefully. Receiving daily bread is something we do as a community. God provides all people thoughout the world with food. "Then why," you might ask, "are there so many hungry people?" Here are some facts on hunger from the ELCA's website: 854 million people are hungry --
In Developing nations 820 million people are undernourished, 1 billion people live on less than $1/day , 146 million children under age 5 are underweight, 10 million children under age 5 die every year, over half of hunger-related causes, 1 in 6 people is hungry, 1 in 6 people lacks safe drinking water. In
Industrialized/developed nations 9 million people are undernourished
In Transitional nations, 28 million people are undernourished

God does provide enough bread for the world. The problem is partly distribution. On Sunday, February 3, we participate in the Souper Bowl of Caring, a Sunday when Christians around the country contribute to help redistribute the bread. There are other well-known and effective ways to help end world hunger. Check out these websites:

http://www.bread.org

http://www.heifer.org

http://www.equalexchange.com

http://www.elca.org/hunger

What are your thoughts about daily bread?