No Cause for celebration

I was feeling rather positive today when I set out to the Co-op to do my shop. The experience of juggling the budget and the feelings engendered by it, soon had my mood plummeting and instead of the planned trip to Hopley's Farm Shop to pick up some fruit and veg, I headed home unable to face any more shopping.

It's not the food that's the problem; if challenged, we could all cut our food budget and still eat healthily and creatively. It's all the other stuff that we need to get by. This week I needed toothpaste, oil and loo rolls. I hesitated in the aisle with the washing liquid in; the economy brand wasn't there and I found myself deciding to eek out the little left and wait until next week to replace that. By the time I'd bought the few items on my list, I headed to the checkouts - knowing I'd got around £25 worth of items in the trolley, even though there weren't many items. It's the 'other stuff' that's expensive. I paused to think about what I was going to eat over the next few days, as I knew I was out of vegetables.  I still had some chick pea stew in the fridge that would do for today and if I saved a bit for tomorrow, it could go with that single baking potato I'd put in the trolley. I headed over towards the veg; mushrooms (bargain price) could be used for a risotto, and two large carrots could go with the red lentils I'd picked up to make a soup that would cover 3 lunches. I knew there was a tin of tomatoes and some pasta at home, so I could get a meal out of that. So off to the checkout!

Something that makes me angry is this; that the poorest people here are forced into exploiting people who are even poorer around the world. The cheaply priced items are so often produced in pitiful conditions by people who are paid less than £1 a day; we know this - whether we choose to think about it or not. Those of us who are able to pay for Fair Trade, environmentally friendly products that are not tested on animals can live with cleaner consciences. This is a 'luxury' denied to the poor along with the tempting items placed close to the checkouts.

There is only one week left of my challenge; Easter is a week away. Yet, I can't look at the end of this challenge with the kind of glee and celebration that I might had I given up chocolate, for example. A chilling thing that Jesus is quoted as saying is 'The poor will always be with you.' A fact of life because the greedy and self seeking will always rise to the top, whatever political persuasion is in power. Those who are unable to help themselves will always end up at the bottom. I wonder what kind of mental acrobatics those receiving massive bonuses have to engage in, in order to sleep at nights. Surely, they can't all be high functioning psychopaths and sociopaths with little capability for empathy? Can anyone justify a 'need' for more than the 'one' million?? Well, at least we're all equal when we exit this life, even if we can't grasp this truth while we're alive.

Tonight, in this country, people will go to bed hungry. They will be cold because, unlike me, they won't be able to put the heating on when the evening chill sets in. There is enough food in the UK to feed them. There is enough wealth to pay their fuel bills.

Across the world today, more than 20,000 children have died because of hunger and thirst. Lack of food and safe drinking water. We have the technology to change this, but we don't. They are poor because we are rich; we are rich because they are poor.

I can't look forward to celebrating the end of this challenge because I am ashamed by the reminder of these uncomfortable truths. If Easter celebrates resurrection: hope in the midst of despair, life out of death and light in darkness, Easter cannot come until ALL are seated at the table.