Recently I went to the
hospital to get an upper endoscopy performed on my throat and stomach. The procedure itself isn’t so bad because they put you
to sleep while they do it; the bad part is you have to fast beforehand. By the
time I got home and was finally able to eat, I had gone nearly 24 hours without
food or juice of any kind. It was an uncomfortable feeling to go without food,
but not a strange one. I have been hungry before.
When I was 17 and still in
High School, I was living on my own. My
Dad had retired from the Marine Corps and he and my Mom moved to San Francisco
where he landed a new job. I stayed behind to finish High School and lived in a
small plywood shack on a neighbor’s ranch. I worked part time for the Rancher
earning just enough to get by, but at one point the rancher went on a long
vacation so there was no work for me and therefore no money. I got by for a few
days eating english muffins and peanut butter, but that quickly ran out. I
wrangled myself dinner with a friend’s family one night but I was embarrassed about
my situation and too proud to ask for any additional help.
What little money I had I used
to fill up my car, so I had a full tank of gas but an empty stomach. It felt really bad to be hungry and I became desperate
so I drove into town one evening remembering that a kid in one of my classes worked
at the local KFC restaurant. I waited until closing time and then asked if I
could help him clean up in return for some food. He asked me why I didn’t just
go home to eat and I explained about the shack and running out of muffins and I
think he took pity on me because he allowed me to come by every evening for the
next few weeks and help him close in exchange for a couple pieces of chicken.
I believe that short period of
hunger really helped to shape my life. It
forced me to become a stronger more resourceful person at a very young age. I
also learned about the kindness of strangers and how good it feels to help
others. I guess all of us have times in our lives when we are on God’s anvil
because he is busy shaping us….and if we let Him shape us properly we will not
only become stronger people, we will also become more compassionate for others
in the same situation. Not only do I never want to go hungry again, I don’t
want others to go hungry either.
Before looking for
something to eat and drink,
we should look for someone to eat and drink with.
~ Epicurus
 |
| This poor guy has been waiting way too long for someone to eat and drink with! |
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