tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6883239586547119968.post1694544040322583601..comments2023-06-18T05:49:34.245-05:00Comments on Our Friendly Earth: Fill the CupUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6883239586547119968.post-37904934259926029362008-06-01T14:25:00.000-05:002008-06-01T14:25:00.000-05:00Sunday - I ended my "fill the cup" experience this...Sunday - I ended my "fill the cup" experience this morning. In 48 hours of having just one cup of porridge a day,I lost three pounds and felt the pain of hunger. <BR/><BR/>It seems like a short amount of time, but it was challenging and brought home to me the realities of hunger. Going through this made me not only think about hunger in the abstract but feel it in my own body. <BR/><BR/>The current food crisis is threatening every charitable food program since the price of grains have doubled and tripled which means the same dollars that funded them can only buy 1/2 to 1/3 the food that it would buy three months ago. You don't have to try my 48-hour experiment to care about the hungry in this world. Just think about it every time you grab a snack or sit down to a plentiful table of food. Say a prayer for those not so fortunate and make a pledge to do something to change the world. It takes less than a US dollar a day to feed on hungry child.Liberally Beautifulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00774819012466212089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6883239586547119968.post-47251151834041247242008-05-31T13:53:00.000-05:002008-05-31T13:53:00.000-05:00Day two - Saturday Afternoon - I made it through l...Day two - Saturday Afternoon - I made it through last night. Food kept popping up in my thoughts and I felt physical stress. Knowing that I had a cup of porridge coming in the morning was helpful. I started thinking how I would feel if I was hungry and couldn't count on a cup of porridge and had no idea where my next meal would come from. It would be a pretty hopeless feeling.<BR/><BR/>I also began to realize that when we feel good about providing one cup of porridge a day to people in the third world while we dine on three full meals and snacks everyday we don't have true compassion. We should do more than this.<BR/><BR/>It is amazing how quickly you feel the affects of having little or no food. I woke up with a headache this morning and with low energy. <BR/>My porridge at 10 AM today was close to being like drugs. After just a couple of bites I felt a relaxing sensation. After completing the mug, I felt so much better than before. <BR/><BR/>I challenge any doubters to try this for just 24 to 48 hours (unless you have a medical condition that would be adversely affected) and see how it makes you feel about hunger in the third world. <BR/><BR/>Of you can do it just to prove that I am a wimp and that you can get through this with no problems or concerns for the rest of the world. <BR/><BR/>I would hope that when your stomach starts growling if you stick to the goal, that you will start realizing that hunger hurts. Maybe you will look around you at all the advantages you have and realize how truly rich you are. <BR/><BR/>I have a comfortable bed to sleep in and chairs and couches to sit on in my air conditioned home, so even though I am hungry otherwise I am comfortable and can even sleep well at night. Not so for many in the third world.<BR/><BR/>My goal in this is for me to not only feel compassion but to feel empathy which can only happen if I can experience something like those who are hungry. Like when someone says, "you just had to be there to understand." This is my small way of "being there."Liberally Beautifulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00774819012466212089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6883239586547119968.post-76902029606435484182008-05-30T16:07:00.000-05:002008-05-30T16:07:00.000-05:00It is day one, Friday, May 30th. I had my porridge...It is day one, Friday, May 30th. I had my porridge this morning and it tasted pretty good. The porridge was made from one cup vanilla soy milk, 1/4 cup corn meal and 1/2 cup cold water. You simmer the soy milk on low in a pan on the stove; mix the corn meal with the cold water and stir until smooth, then add the corn meal and water mixture to the warming soy milk. Stir until thick. I offer this recipe in case someone is crazy enough to try this experiment along with me.<BR/><BR/>My porridge lasted me through the morning. Lunch-time rolled around and I noticed the lack of food, but kept on working. Now at 2:00 PM I am hungry. I want to eat.<BR/><BR/>The decision: keep on going or cave and say, "Now I know what hunger feels like," then go grab a nice salad or sandwich from the kitchen. My decision was to write this blog and therefore make a commitment to my readers to continue.<BR/><BR/>It's now 4:00 PM. Drinking water helps. I am determined to make it through this weekend. I know how lame that sounds. I really think that 24 hours for the average American would teach them a lot about hunger, and about how food-centric we are. -JoyLiberally Beautifulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00774819012466212089noreply@blogger.com