Hunger

I long for your salvation, O LORD,*

and your law is my delight.

 Let me live, and I will praise you,*

and let your judgments help me.

I have gone astray like a sheep that is lost;*

search for your servant, for I do not forget your commandments.

-Psalm 119:174-176

On a rare Monday off, I find I am able to drink a full cup of coffee while it is still hot and relish in the Sunday New York Times. I love the book reviews and the crossword. I love reading Sunday in review and catching up on all the news that does not bleed into this house of no television. This is usually our Sunday ritual after church but time has been tight the past few months and often the newspaper sit unopened until Wednesday, when with guild I open it and try desperately to read as much as possible. Some days all I seem to see are articles on greed, war, fashion, and hate crimes. Today is different. I see with rested eyes. Inside I find a piece I might not have seen had I been in a hurry. It’s an article on the research of how when we are hungry, we are more likely to translate words and images and perceive them as being related to food.  The study finds this holds true for moral hunger as well. We see what we desire most. 

God, help me to remember that what is most important to me is what I will see in the world.  Help me to hunger for what is good and right and true and lovely.  Amen.

- Ellyn Siftar