Better Than Dog Food

Jeff, a young seminary intern got our congregation buzzing the day he brought an opened can of dog food to church for his children's sermon. He told the children he hadn't had time for breakfast that morning, and was hoping they wouldn't mind if he ate his breakfast during the children's sermon.Jeff asked the children if any of them had ever eaten dog food. He got out a plastic fork, stuffed a napkin in his shirt, and read the label on the can and said, "It says it has all these vitamins and minerals so it must be good and nutritious." Then he proceeded to stab a piece of the food and pop it into his mouth.

I confess my stomach was a little queasy at this point, but Jeff proceeded to pop another morsel into his mouth and pronounce it "delicious." He didn't seem to flinch or grimace as he swallowed.Then he came clean. "This is really a candy bar," he confessed, to the disappointment/envy of the children and the relief (I think) of the adults in the room. He reminded them that they should never "judge a book by its cover" and always remember to try to look on the inside of a person before judging them by their appearance. A good and apt lesson for us all. Jeff also confessed that he had borrowed the illustration from a visiting minister.

When Jeff started in with his dog food illustration, I thought he was going to remind us that there are people in poverty who have to eat dog food. At least I have heard stories of elderly people eating dog food.While I don't know personally anyone putting cans of dog food on the table during what promises to be quite a long and hard winter at least in some parts of North America, we are blind, insensitive and hard headed if we refuse to believe that hunger exists here.

While many charities pass out food baskets and free turkeys during the holidays, and food pantries and soup kitchens provide nutritious hot meals or free groceries, what's needed in the long run is programs to help people to get and hold jobs so they don't have to keep coming back to the soup kitchen. Some need programs that help them fill in the gaps in their education, so they can hold better jobs.

Jubilee Jobs, a faith-based non-profit employment agency is one such program in Washington D.C. In operation since 1981, it helps prepare people for the job market by stressing the importance of showing up on time (if you come late to a training session, you are not allowed in and have to file an application to come another week), what to wear, how to fill out a job application or resume, how to develop an attitude that allows you to keep a job even when you are reprimanded or have a difficult boss. The program has helped thousands of people find jobs in that area.

A job is much better than a can of soup as an answer to poverty, but of course even this solution may not be easy or the right solution. A person holding a minimum wage job does not make enough for a small family to survive. If you are a single parent, do you work two or three jobs and have your child in daycare all that time?

Too often, especially when it comes to those in poverty, we do "judge a book" by the cover: we see clothing, hairstyle or housing and think, why can't they get their life together? Or we see them only as statistics. We fail to see the real people with their multiple layers of issues: living with a persistent feeling that no matter what they try, they lose a job, the rent goes up, the car breaks down, they lose their driving license. These failures began in school, perhaps prompted by learning disabilities, family problems, illness or poverty. It takes gumption to rise above negative circumstances.

Gumption can't be handed out or taught. But educational programs on how to get and keep a job do go a long way. For more about Jubilee Jobs see http://www.charitablechoices.org/charities/JubileeJobs/

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Contributed by Melodie Davis from her weekly columnANOTHER WAY (http://www.thirdway.com/aw/).For information on using Another Way in a local newspaper, contact:ANOTHER WAY, 1251 Virginia Ave., Harrisonburg, VA 22801-2497; or call1-800-999-3534; fax at 540-434-5556; or email me at:Melodie@mennomedia.org