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Viewpoint from Revd David Wells 23/08/2024
 Revd David Wells
Rector, Holy Trinity Church, Caister-on-Sea
I have a theory that what is wrong with the world is that is full of hangry people
Hangry (hungry and angry) is the word coined by mums to describe toddlers who become grumpy when it is too long since their last meal. But it is not only toddlers who become hangry. There was a study of an Israeli military tribunal that compared decisions made just before lunch with those made after lunch. They found that before lunch, hungry judges were much more likely to throw the book at the defendants, ignoring pleas for mercy and imposing the harshest punishments. Whereas after lunch, the well-fed judges were much more lenient and forgiving, willing to give defendants a second chance
 Being hangry is partly a physiological response; it is about how our brains function when our blood sugar levels begin to fall. But there is something deeper going on - when we are we are hungry then we begin to go into survival mode, instincts kick in that tell us that what we need is in short supply - leaving less space for compassion, for tolerance, for forgiveness
We live in a hangry world - perhaps the recent riots were one symptom of that. Some people are literally hungry for food - that’s why many churches now run foodbanks and community larders. Others manage to put food on the table, but are still hungry for different things - for security, for respect, for understanding, for community, for being valued. Somehow we have managed to create a world in which for many people those things are in short supply - so no wonder people are hangry
Jesus said I am the bread of life. Which is a way of saying that He is the answer to our deepest hungers, He is the key to building a world that is less hangry and more generous. When churches are involved in running foodbanks, as we are in Caister at the Caister Community Larder, it is not, as cynics might suggest, a scheme to exploit people’s needs in order to convert them. But we would be failing in our calling as Christians if we only offered food without also offering an invitation to be spiritually fed as part of the community that celebrates Jesus as the true and living bread
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