On Hunger – A Homily by, Becky Huffman
On Hunger – A Homily
Becky Huffman for The First Unitarian Congregational Society
November 24, 2013
Many of you know that my husband Andrew and I created our family through adoption. Our children, Daniel and Lily, came home from Ethiopia just over 2 years ago. A few of you also know that when we were matched with our children 3 years ago this December (best Christmas present ever!), our daughter Lily was about 8 months old, and she weighed only 8 pounds. You would never know it to look at her now with her round, rosy cheeks! In that first photo we have of her, she has these tiny little fingers like sticks, and big eyes shining out of a thin, tiny face. She was so tiny because for 8 months, there had been nothing for her to eat.
I’ve learned lots from being an adoptive mother, from having a new family and a second country in Ethiopia. One thing I’ve learned is that although the outward physical signs of hunger quickly disappear, the internal damage can last a lifetime. A person is changed by hunger.
Getting enough to eat is a daily struggle for our Ethiopian family. They are all thin. They are all tiny. Such is the fate of most rural Ethiopians, and families in countries all over the world, and many even in our community. They eat once a day if they are lucky, and never eat enough to feel full. Can you imagine eating only ONCE a day?! Can you imagine eating the same thing every day? No snacks, no big fridge full of treats? Can you imagine that even on your birthday, you would still eat just one small meal? No cupcakes, no goodie bags… no ice cream! That is the life of millions of children and families in our world. Millions of people are always, always hungry.
A person is changed by hunger. Being hungry, really hungry, for an extended period of time changes the brain’s chemistry. All us humans are wired to enjoy food, to seek out the sweetest, most nutrient rich food. When the body has been denied proper nutrition for too long, the brain goes into a high alert state. It is thinking, constantly, “Food, Food, Now! Food!!” Even after a person has had enough to eat for a while, the brain’s high alert can be triggered easily.
Even years later, when a person who has suffered food insecurity or starvation is hungry, even just a little hungry, their brains go into high alert. Food! Now! Food! Now! Food is all their brains can think of. They may cry, they may wail, they scream, they horde, they stuff themselves. They are starving again, and for them it is a oh-so-very-real danger, even in a house stocked with goodies. We all know how we feel when we are hungry. We get tired, we get grumpy, we whine and moan and complain “I’m starving!” But a person who has been truly hungry really thinks that they are starving, and it can make them so, so scared.
Imagine what it must be like- every time your tummy rumbles, you are scared. Imagine an entire village, a region, a nation of people who have been hungry, who have nearly starved. Imagine how scared they are. Imagine how their brains will always, always, be on the alert for danger. Imagine how difficult it would be for members of these communities to grow and trust and take risks. Imagine how easily it would be for corrupt, power hungry leaders to trick their people. Imagine how challenging it would be to live and thrive in an abundant world when you have known such scarcity. Hunger changes a person; it also changes whole countries.
I wish I could say that I have been changed by hunger too. That I never eat too much, that I savor every bite. That I never eat a handful of cookies just because I’m stressed out. I do. But do I think about our Ethiopian family whenever I have to throw out food that simply been in the fridge too long? Yes. Every time.
Becky writes about Ethiopian adoption, trans-racial parenting and modern motherhood at www.moreinjeraplease.blogspot.com.
