Famine and the Feast -suffering in Niger-"Where is God in the midst of this?"- krsna

[Guest guest]

Opinion:

 

The widespread suffering now experienced in Niger evokes the question: "Where is God in the midst of this?" Yet, the convenience and luxury afforded in a wealthy country certainly can dull the reality of what the UN calls a "catastrophic famine". Does the extent of luxury displayed in a richer country make an implicit statement that our lives are more important than theirs?

As I shopped at the local supermarket yesterday, I noticed the bizarre juxtaposition of popular fashion magazines with news magazines reporting on Niger's famine. The fashion magazines displayed the familiar, customer-catching titles, such as "Lose Ten Pounds In One Week" or "How These Women Lost Their Extra Weight and Kept It Off", including before and after photos of the victoriously slim women.

 

The distorted value system such magazines promote seems especially poignant when their weight loss and diet obsession comes in contact with the forced starvation of the people of Niger. The treasured goal—looking like the gaunt woman on the magazine cover —is strikingly similar to the gaunt child pictured in the newspaper: a fate the people in Niger are desperately trying to avoid.

 

Provided, the maintenance of bodily beauty, which in contemporary Western culture includes thinness, does not always lead one to a state of starvation. But it might do us good to question the ethic of dedicating such a large portion of time, money, and life energy to that aim.

 

Though Niger's situation is dire, both government and charitable aid has been sparse. The UN targeted $30m for aid to Niger in both the short and long term, but has, so far, found only a third of that in international donations. This may seem like an enormous amount, but another odd juxtaposition (given by a UN representative) may put it into perspective: the annual amount Europeans spend on ice cream has soared to $10bn a year, and the annual amount Americans spend on their pets has reached $35bn each year.

 

What needs to be looked at here, is not the amount of money spent but the priorities it reveals. We might in turn address our question, "Where is God in the midst of this?" to the pursuit of external beauty and luxury.

 

The interesting thing about the dieting business in America is that it is often far more expensive for the dieters to eat their specialized foods and supplements than to buy regular foods. So in an environment overburdened with excessive food, large numbers of people are paying extra money to force themselves to eat less.

 

Our reality is shaped to a suprising extent by our economic environment. Yet, how have we come to live in such security, while those in Niger and elsewhere struggle so intensely simply to live? Though we are surrounded by so much, do we deserve it more than they?

 

Each soul has equal importance before God's eyes. To the extent we care for others, God is pleased and becomes present in our lives. In the deepest reality, achievements of bodily beauty are not recognised. The struggle for external beauty, pictured on the magazine cover, betrays a sense of elitism—one that justifies ignoring others' suffering in the pursuit for an individual's perfection. Yet, what does this coveted perfection amount to in the larger picture of human existence? Is it worthy of the title "perfection" at all, if in the process we are allowing others to starve while we waste? It is rather the beauty of the heart, in the form of humility and readiness to help others, which gives our lives value and finds God in the midst of all circumstances.

 

Kumari-priya Dasi

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Each soul has equal importance before God's eyes.

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God exists in all people. If sone are poor, that's natural; if sone are rich, that's natural.

 

Bg -

 

Knowledge by which one sees a single imperishable reality in all beings as undivided in the divided; such knowledge is considered to be Saattvika. (18.20)

 

Knowledge by which one sees different realities of various types among all beings as separate from one another, consider that knowledge to be Raajasika. (18.21)

[Tarun]

Where? amidst it all.

[Guest guest]

Eth. exists under the permission of God. That's so simple. Don't you accept it?

[Guest guest]

You p. haven't been solved, have you?

[Guest guest]

Nice observations Prabhu - made me think of Sri Isopanisad mantra one:

 

<big>Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the Lord. One should therefore accept only those things necessary for himself, which are set aside as his quota, and one should not accept other things, knowing well to whom they belong.</big>

 

Bhakta don muntean [i appear as "guest" as I'm not logged in]

[theist]

This is the land of birth death old age and disease. We should not be complacent with others suffering but nor should we be surprised.

 

Perhaps the poor in Niger were the fat cats in their past lives and feasted while watching others starve. The gluttons and hoarders of today may be the next generation born in Niger.

 

Such a viscious cycle of feast and famine.

[Guest guest]

If same disasters happen in India & Amer., guess which one will sustain more loss? The distinction of a dev.ing & a dev.ed countries lies in not only richness but firmness at least. The biggist enemy of a domin. country or religion is itself. Tear & nationalism are useless.

[theist]

I can't follow all the abbreviations.

[Guest guest]

You prepare so much tear & hate, but I needn't them. Eth. is natural in my eyes.