One artist's interaction with the book of John

Seth Conley is an artist in East Nashville, TN. This is a snapshot from his story.

Can your back yard impact the Kingdom?

Were you aware that the state of Alabama has the 12^th highest rate of food insecurity out of all 50 States?

What about the fact that we rank 48^th according to the United Health Foundation America’s Health Rankings in national health status due to the high rates of obesity (28.4%) and diabetes (8.7%), increasing rates of children in poverty, and high premature death rate?

According to other recent studies addressing our specific area of the state, “over a third of Birmingham city children live in families below the poverty level. Younger generations, especially among the lower income communities have been shown to be becoming increasingly reliant on lesser nutritious convenience and fast foods. In conjunction with the tendency for Alabama children to eat the fewest fruits and vegetables of other states surveyed, Alabama children living in poverty are at even greater risk for health complications that can be easily prevented by dietary improvements and educational intervention.”

For many of us, this type of information is the equivalent of watching TV news reports of large scale African famines complete with swollen bellies and swarming gnats and flies. We would honestly rather just change the channel.

And we have.

Rather than seeing what is there, we would rather hang out at The Summit or Patton Creek. It’s pretty easy actually. As long as you never cross Red Mountain, one could easily go on indefinitely without ever stopping to contemplate the crisis that exists 15 minutes to the north of us.

But what if someone cared enough to move past the “I wouldn’t even know where to start!” stage? What if we began to contemplate the grace shown to us in our own relative economic blessing? What if there were a small handful of people who decided to apply for a Hope for the ‘Ham grant and walk into a downtown elementary school to do something like this? Or this? Or perhaps this?

Or what if a church decided to challenge its members to tap unused backyard space to produce, well…. produce? Each Friday, whatever is harvested for that week is then transported to an adopted downtown school where a small scale farmers market is erected. As children leave school for the weekend, they leave with a small sampling of fresh produce to take home to their families. Students families could also sign up for a “garden mentor” to spend one Saturday a month during the gardening season visiting with the family and laying out a home garden space, aiding them in becoming self-sufficient gardeners.

How long can we continue to simply change the channel? How long before God’s people are moved to see this dilemma, not as a welfare issue, but as a spiritual issue, an issue of our inadequate understanding of the grace shown to us by a merciful Father?

May God grant His people the eyes to see, the heart to care, and the will to address the issues that grieve His heart.

Matthew 25:35 – 40

35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’