Hungry

The three of us went to see "A Place at the Table" at a small local theater yesterday afternoon.  It is about the problem of hunger in America.  Watch it if you have an opportunity.  

I am not sure how much Isaac internalized in between shifting around in his seat and curling up in a fetal position trying to stay warm.  Our pastor says that he doesn't mind children reading or writing or drawing during his sermons because he believes that they are listening on some level.  And I know that I have been surprised by what Isaac will ask about or refer to after listening to NPR on our commute to and from school when I thought he was engrossed in his Kindle or the latest Captain Underpants book.  So, I hope that, while he claimed not to have learned anything, some part of the movie will stick in his brain.

Sometimes it seems we are surrounded by efforts to help solve the problem of hunger -- our church provides backpacks for needy families each weekend at a local school and collects food, cooks and serves at the local soup kitchen each month.  At school our Student Council does an annual Salvation Army food drive and our PE teacher heads up an effort to support a local organization that also provides food for needy families on weekends.  Despite all of the awareness efforts, however, the problem of hunger is rarely real to our family.  We have plenty.  It's hard to imagine sometimes that other people don't.  

There were a lot of tears in the film and in the theater during the movie.  There is not much to laugh about when there is "nuffin' in de pot." 

Philosophy by Paul Laurence Dunbar

I been t'inkin' 'bout de preachah; whut he said de othah night,
'Bout hit bein' people's dooty, fu' to keep dey faces bright;
How one ought to live so pleasant dat ouah tempah never riles,
Meetin' evahbody roun' us wid ouah very nicest smiles.

Dat 's all right, I ain't a-sputin' not a t'ing dat soun's lak fac',
But you don't ketch folks a-grinnin' wid a misery in de back;
An' you don't fin' dem a-smilin' w'en dey 's hongry ez kin be,
Leastways, dat 's how human natur' allus seems to 'pear to me.

We is mos' all putty likely fu' to have our little cares,
An' I think we 'se doin' fus' rate w'en we jes' go long and bears,
Widout breakin' up ouah faces in a sickly so't o' grin,
W'en we knows dat in ouah innards we is p'intly mad ez sin.

Oh dey 's times fu' bein' pleasant an' fu' goin' smilin' roun',
'Cause I don't believe in people allus totin' roun' a frown,
But it's easy 'nough to titter w'en de stew is smokin' hot,
But hit's mighty ha'd to giggle w'en dey's nuffin' in de pot