I just got back from Sunday Mass.
The staff had placed two cafeteria-type tables between the main entrance and the worship space. The tables were 2/3 covered with canned goods and festooned with signs "If you are hungry, take what you need" and "If you have extra, put it on the table".
Note: Photos added to post later
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| I asked somebody at the church to take some photos and send them to me. |
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| Spaghetti sauce and cheeze-goo for pasta |
Our priest, in his closing remarks said it was a stop-gap measure "for the duration".
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A judge (in Rhode Island IIRC) ruled that Trump's Administration had to release the $6 billion in United States Department of Agriculture emergency funds to fund SNAP benefits. That is approximately one month's worth of money burn-rate.
Meanwhile, US farmers are facing ghastly business conditions as prices for crops like soybeans and corn have fallen below the price of production, threatening to put them out of business.
I expect the Trump Administration to contest the judge's ruling if only on the basis of Separation of Powers. But it could also contest them on the basis of the necessity of protecting the actual producers of food and not just the consumers.
Everybody with a dog in this fight is running around like a chicken with its head cut off. I think the "...for the duration..." is the sanest approach. We will probably find look through our pantry and find a few cans of food we can spare. And we will probably find a few extra dollars in our budget to buy a few cans as well.
Local is better than state which is better than Federal.
Note canned goods. No chips, sodas, or other junk food, and nothing with high enough value to sell for drug/booze/cigarette money either.
ReplyDeleteERJ, this came up at our service this morning as well. No definitive decision on who they would be partnering with, but decision forthcoming in a few days.
ReplyDeleteI was impressed by the low investment and labor involved in the endeavor. Nothing fancy.
DeleteNote: I got some pictures and added them to the post.
Like many, I've had less and more in my life. As a kid, we were definitely on the less side. Yet, mom made sure there was food on the table and food in the pantry for meals to come. An adult plans for their needs and the needs of those under their care. The grasshopper and the ant is a Biblical parable. Sympathy is hard to find.
ReplyDeleteI am also less than sympathetic except for little, old widows who have been screwed over by decades of inadequate SS cost of living adjustments.
DeleteBut the thing about a "moral code" is that it is worthless if it only commands us to do the things we would do on our own. That is, the value of a moral code is that it compels us to do what we don't want to do or what will make us uncomfortable.
So, looking at the last chapter of John, Jesus tells Peter to "...feed my sheep..." three times. He doesn't say "figuratively" or "spiritually" so I have to assume he means in every way we are capable.
Reconciling the commands in the Bible with "tough love" is a tricky path. That is what prayer is for.
Always! And we're doing the same things down here.
ReplyDeleteCharity is what you are describing. Congregants giving freely of their own free will. Extorting it from citizenry at threat of violence or incarceration is a very different thing.
ReplyDeleteThis. This should replace EBT, period. When charity has no face, it provides Grace neither to the giver nor to the receiver.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that 6.666% of the people seeking free food would spontaneously combust if they entered a Christian church and the oily smoke would violate EPA standards.
DeleteThe rogue judges could order the communists in the senate to vote for the CR , and everything would be settled. But the communist judges want to make TRUMP look bad.
ReplyDelete