Both Sides By Rev. Nina D. Grey January, 2004

Generosity flows in a never-ending cycle. As the Buddhists know, the boundary between giving and receiving is an illusion. As some Native Americans know, a gift remains a gift when we pass it on. We are all givers and receivers.

I was both a giver and receiver this Christmas, indeed blessed to enjoy a wonderful visit in Fayetteville, North Carolina, with some of my family. The conversation was fine, the feelings warm. We ate our fill and then some. Food was plentiful and traditional. The company and the food we shared provided good nourishment for our bodies and spirits. It was a time of giving and receiving.

Alongside my gratitude was also awareness of the many whose food supply is ... "inadequate" hardly expresses it. The blessings of life do not flow everywhere equally unimpeded. Food rations have been cut in half for many men, women and children in parts of Africa, because of both reduced food production and diminished contributions to food agencies, and this decrease in food production and contributions certainly has deeper causes. And there are many in our own communities who live with hunger, who perhaps have been unemployed or underemployed, or who have had to choose between health care and food.

While we savor the blessing of company and a generous supply of good food for our bodies, it is important that we also learn about the causes of hunger and support organizations like the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, through the Guest At Your Table program, and the Food Pantry and Open Kitchen programs of the Hyde Park and Kenwood Interfaith Council. January 4th is the Sunday we will collect the Guest At Your Table Boxes and also kick off the Empty Bowls program in our multigenerational worship service. Our young people will learn more about hunger in their Wintersession Month. We'll all have a chance to support the Empty Bowls program in early February, at the Empty Bowls luncheon. Empty Bowls benefits the food programs of the Interfaith Council. Our gifts will bless both those who receive and those who give.

As we enter this new year I take heart not only because of the good company of family and friends, and not only because of the delight of delicious, nutritious traditional foods, but also by the awareness that love dwells in the world. That, in the end, is what the story of Jesus' birth means to me. No, I don't take Jesus' birth literally as the incarnation of the God of Love in human form. But I have come to believe the nugget of truth in that birth story, that the possibility and power of love are at least potentials in every birth and every relationship. Where there are impediments, we have the possibility of restoring a flow

The story of Jesus' birth reminds us of and renews the hope that love can dwell within, between and among us all. In remembering we are encouraged to make the spirit of love flesh by learning about and responding to human needs. In so doing, we are both givers and receiver. We are participants in the redeeming possibility, potential and power of love.

With love, in faith,

Nina