Over the years I have had some very interesting conversations on airplanes. Some of those have been with friends or family, but I’m referring now only to conversations with people I’d never met.
You may be the person who gets into your seat, puts on headphones (ear muff style, just to make a statement), turns on a movie, and then grabs a book for good measure.
All of this is non-verbal communication that says to your seat mates, “I am not interested in knowing where you are from, where you are going, or why. Just leave me alone.” Trust me, I get it. I will not bother you.
But being the person who believes God orchestrates introductions, I am always open to at least saying “Hello.” I might even initiate that, so be ready if you happen to sit next to me on a flight.
One of the times I’m quite thankful for was when I sat next to a fellow who was on his way home from India. Having read recently about food shortages in India, I asked, with genuine concern, “What can we do to get more food to India?”
His answer surprised me. “India doesn’t need more food. There is plenty there for every man, woman and child. What India needs is better highways.” Then he said, “I have studied this for several years, and there is not a supply problem in India, there is a distribution problem.”
Still the same?
That happened more than twenty years ago, but we could have had almost the same conversation today. India is one of the top producers in the world for several staples, including wheat and rice. They’ve made positive strides in agricultural improvements, and the last few years they have produced bumper crops.
It is after the crops are gathered that the problems arise, including post-harvest loss and waste. One source says that up to 40% of food produced in India is wasted due to inadequate storage and poor infrastructure. Poor rural roads and fragmented supply chains add to that loss.
The good news is that the poorest of the poor have been helped significantly by India’s Public Distribution System, but even PDS is struggling with gaps in their efforts to identify eligible recipients.
Darlene’s bananas
That is a possessive apostrophe, so it does not say Darlene is bananas. Although she was upset by bananas she saw at WalMart that were not going to be sold. Pictured above, they were still yellow, and there were 180 pounds of them. It looked like they were going to be tossed.
“Somebody could have used those,” she opined. I’m sure she was correct. She was dismayed enough that she brought up the subject at breakfast a few days later.
I said, “This sounds like a distribution problem,” and I told her about India. Here in America, in fact, about 13% of all food produced is wasted in distribution, and 13-15% more is lost at the retail level. Including, it seems, those bananas. Although it turns out they were actually being composted, which is far better than being destroyed!
How life works. (At least in part.)
In every society, in every time, in every country, with every form of government known to mankind, there are those who have more of some thing than they need and those who have less of that thing than they need. It is not possible, based on history, to make laws which turn inequality into equality.
It is possible for something approaching equality to happen, and in a moment I will point to a time and place where it did.
In the meantime, think for just a moment about those who have an abundance and those who have a lack.
In Silicon Valley, there are scores of very rich people. Some of them are willing to invest their money into startup companies. The startups have ideas that could make money and do much good, but first they need money. How do entrepreneurs and investors meet?
In Nashville there are record labels looking for new artists, whether they sing or write or both. All over America there are artists who could benefit from the expertise available in Nashville. How do they connect?
There are hungry people, homeless people, sick people, hurting people, lonely people, and of course poor people. How do they get what they need?
Many people believe that solving all of those problems falls to the government. Pure socialism, which looks pretty good on paper when viewed through the lens of “haves and have-nots,” has failed every time it has been tried. If it is tried in New York it will fail again. I’ll write more about that someday, but not now. Now I’ll give you the solution.
Do good.
I have learned that morality cannot be legislated. We already have all kinds of laws about not killing, not stealing, and other moral no-no’s. The law helps, but it isn’t the full answer.
Voluntarily, though, a community of people can care for one another. This took place at the very beginning of the first church, and you can read about it in Acts chapter 4, verses 32-37. Verse 34 says, “There was not a needy person among them.” Wow.
It happened because those who had more gave it freely for the use of those who had less. The apostles oversaw it all, Godly men who were completely trustworthy.
It wasn’t law, it was love. The giving was done out of love of God and of others. That still happens in some churches and in other organizations today. It also happens in families, and between individuals. Perhaps you have been part of something like that on the giving or the receiving side.
And it isn’t just about physical needs. It is about mental health. It is about wisdom and knowledge. It includes the mind and spirit, not just the body. And it is beautiful when people — as individuals or as part of a community — do good for others.
You can help solve this distribution problem. You already know how:
Do good. It’s in you.
the distribution problem… and solution
Over the years I have had some very interesting conversations on airplanes. Some of those have been with friends or family, but I’m referring now only to conversations with people I’d never met.
You may be the person who gets into your seat, puts on headphones (ear muff style, just to make a statement), turns on a movie, and then grabs a book for good measure.
All of this is non-verbal communication that says to your seat mates, “I am not interested in knowing where you are from, where you are going, or why. Just leave me alone.” Trust me, I get it. I will not bother you.
But being the person who believes God orchestrates introductions, I am always open to at least saying “Hello.” I might even initiate that, so be ready if you happen to sit next to me on a flight.
One of the times I’m quite thankful for was when I sat next to a fellow who was on his way home from India. Having read recently about food shortages in India, I asked, with genuine concern, “What can we do to get more food to India?”
His answer surprised me. “India doesn’t need more food. There is plenty there for every man, woman and child. What India needs is better highways.” Then he said, “I have studied this for several years, and there is not a supply problem in India, there is a distribution problem.”
Still the same?
That happened more than twenty years ago, but we could have had almost the same conversation today. India is one of the top producers in the world for several staples, including wheat and rice. They’ve made positive strides in agricultural improvements, and the last few years they have produced bumper crops.
It is after the crops are gathered that the problems arise, including post-harvest loss and waste. One source says that up to 40% of food produced in India is wasted due to inadequate storage and poor infrastructure. Poor rural roads and fragmented supply chains add to that loss.
The good news is that the poorest of the poor have been helped significantly by India’s Public Distribution System, but even PDS is struggling with gaps in their efforts to identify eligible recipients.
Darlene’s bananas
That is a possessive apostrophe, so it does not say Darlene is bananas. Although she was upset by bananas she saw at WalMart that were not going to be sold. Pictured above, they were still yellow, and there were 180 pounds of them. It looked like they were going to be tossed.
“Somebody could have used those,” she opined. I’m sure she was correct. She was dismayed enough that she brought up the subject at breakfast a few days later.
I said, “This sounds like a distribution problem,” and I told her about India. Here in America, in fact, about 13% of all food produced is wasted in distribution, and 13-15% more is lost at the retail level. Including, it seems, those bananas. Although it turns out they were actually being composted, which is far better than being destroyed!
How life works. (At least in part.)
In every society, in every time, in every country, with every form of government known to mankind, there are those who have more of some thing than they need and those who have less of that thing than they need. It is not possible, based on history, to make laws which turn inequality into equality.
It is possible for something approaching equality to happen, and in a moment I will point to a time and place where it did.
In the meantime, think for just a moment about those who have an abundance and those who have a lack.
In Silicon Valley, there are scores of very rich people. Some of them are willing to invest their money into startup companies. The startups have ideas that could make money and do much good, but first they need money. How do entrepreneurs and investors meet?
In Nashville there are record labels looking for new artists, whether they sing or write or both. All over America there are artists who could benefit from the expertise available in Nashville. How do they connect?
There are hungry people, homeless people, sick people, hurting people, lonely people, and of course poor people. How do they get what they need?
Many people believe that solving all of those problems falls to the government. Pure socialism, which looks pretty good on paper when viewed through the lens of “haves and have-nots,” has failed every time it has been tried. If it is tried in New York it will fail again. I’ll write more about that someday, but not now. Now I’ll give you the solution.
Do good.
I have learned that morality cannot be legislated. We already have all kinds of laws about not killing, not stealing, and other moral no-no’s. The law helps, but it isn’t the full answer.
Voluntarily, though, a community of people can care for one another. This took place at the very beginning of the first church, and you can read about it in Acts chapter 4, verses 32-37. Verse 34 says, “There was not a needy person among them.” Wow.
It happened because those who had more gave it freely for the use of those who had less. The apostles oversaw it all, Godly men who were completely trustworthy.
It wasn’t law, it was love. The giving was done out of love of God and of others. That still happens in some churches and in other organizations today. It also happens in families, and between individuals. Perhaps you have been part of something like that on the giving or the receiving side.
And it isn’t just about physical needs. It is about mental health. It is about wisdom and knowledge. It includes the mind and spirit, not just the body. And it is beautiful when people — as individuals or as part of a community — do good for others.
You can help solve this distribution problem. You already know how:
Do good. It’s in you.
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