She said her name was Gloria

Our spiritual journey is full of surprises. As followers of Christ, our challenge is to learn and grow from each twist and turn. A woman crossed my path last Saturday. She taught me what it really means to be thankful for our blessings. 

The Saturday morning distribution at the local food bank is usually hectic. Because about 50 more people showed up than usual last Saturday, it was particularly hectic. I was handling meat distribution, the lines were long, and I was more focused on speed and efficiency than I should have been. And then I meet Gloria.

One of the local grocery stores had a given us a bunch of individually wrapped soup bones. After each person had made their selections, I asked if they would be interested in getting a soup bone or two. Usually the response was a polite yes or no thank you. 

Gloria followed a different script. When I mentioned the soup bones, her face lit up. 

"I love soup bones. Soup is my favorite comfort food and nothing beats making it from scratch."

I smiled and handed her the bags. Our eyes meet and I was blown away by her smile and the light in her eyes.

"This is my first time here and I feel so blessed. Everyone is so friendly. There are so many choices and so many things I really like. My name is Gloria, by the way."

As she was walking away, she looked at me and said, "God is great. Thank you."

Gloria's infectious joy and gratitude stuck with me the rest of that crazy morning. The sad truth is I have encountered that thankful attitude more among the clients at the food bank than I have among friends and family. It raises the obvious question of why. Why aren't we all more like Gloria? Perhaps the more you have, the less you appreciate anything. Even when you "know" how blessed you are, it is seductively easy to take it all for granted. 

Beyond forgetting to count our blessings, abundance also breeds waste. Across the world, about one third of the food produced winds up in the trash. America is one of the world leaders in waste. A recent study found that food waste in America tops out at 40%. It is obscene. The study estimates that we waste about $1.49 worth of food per person per day in America, with two-thirds of that coming from consumers rather than producers. Across the world, nearly 2 billion people survive on $1.49 a day or less for food.

On a per capita basis in 2008, the food lost from the food supply at the consumer level is equivalent to 124 kg of food per year at an estimated retail price of $390/year at retail prices or .03 kg of food per day valued at $1.07/day. This is roughly 10% of the average amount spent on food per capita in 2008. In 2008, three food groups were responsible for 78% of the total value of food loss at the consumer level, per capita. These groups are meat, poultry and fish ($197/year), vegetables ($61/year), and dairy products ($48/year). Therefore, these food groups might be potential areas to target when educating consumers about food loss.

It is a question of mindfulness. If we truly love God, then our heart should be overflowing with gratitude for our many blessings. That means we should think and act a lot more like Gloria. Appreciating our bounty also requires that we pay attention to what we waste and find ways of reducing it.

One line from the parable of the faithful servant in Luke 12 stands out:

From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.

Thank you, Gloria, for a joyful dose of mindfulness.