Charity – giving to the poor – is an essential part of Christian morality: in the frightening parable of the sheep and the goats it seems to be the point on which everything turns. Some people nowadays say that charity ought to be unnecessary and that instead of giving to the poor we ought to be producing a society in which there were no poor to give to. They may be quite right in saying that we ought to produce this kind of society. But if anyone thinks that, as a consequence, you can stop giving in the meantime, then he has parted company with all Christian morality. I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare.

-CS Lewis, Mere Christianity

Reflecting on this quote, I find myself caught in the tension Lewis presents between not caring enough practically for the poor, and excusing myself because of the reality and complexities of a broken world. I truly believe that the 40 Hour Famine has been an excellent avenue which allows this tension to be diffused just a little (not entirely).

When I was in East Timor, I came across many people living in conditions far beyond our proper comprehension. When Nanda, Adriano’s older sister, cannot properly feed her 18 month old baby girl because she is too malnourished herself, that is a heartbreaking symptom of a society that is far from ideal.  When a problem and circumstance such as that exists, even just once, how can we say ‘charity’ or helping the poor is unnecessary? Actually, it is because these situations are more common than we think that we have a Christian responsibility to uphold the rights of the poor and give our time, money and our all for these fellow human beings.

That is what the 40 Hour Famine is all about, we jump out of our comfort zone, use our voices to speak to anyone who will listen about the needs of a broken world, and urge them to partner with us in this task: fighting poverty and bringing hope to families in places like East Timor.

So, now that the 40 Hour Famine weekend is over, you may realise that our job isn’t. We have the logistical nightmare of collecting donations (yay!) and urging final sponsorships from friends and families. September 30 is the date to have everything back to your group leaders by. Until then, go hard for the hungry! (That was World Vision New Zealand’s awesome 40 Hour Famine catch phrase for 2011!) Remember that this is pretty much the most important part of the process – it is the dollars that help save lives. And remember, it is another part of your ‘charity’ and ‘giving’.

I’ve been feeling super busy lately with so much Famine stuff going on, and some days I find it hard to be motivated. But Lewis’ words help me to understand the big picture. While there are poor people in the world, charity is necessary. How much time, money and energy should we give? As Lewis says, probably more than we can spare.

-Marissa