Helen Robinson encourages us to think about Lent as a time for prioritising what is most important for the common good so that no one is left hungry.

AS A CHILD GROWING up in the 80s I was taught that Lent is a time for “giving up” things — usually things I enjoyed. So I’d give up things like lollies during Lent. I thought that somehow the (ostensible!) sacrifice I made would be a kind of penitential payment which would make things magically better for me, if not for the rest of the universe.

In early adulthood I had a slightly more subtle understanding of the purpose of Lenten fasting. My focus shifted from “giving up” to “doing more” — or perhaps at least to doing something. Now I see that these ideas were wildly self-centered — it was about me, about what I gave and what I did.

Focus on Ordering

In more recent years I’ve come to another understanding. I’ve focused more on the idea of committing to space and time for some conscious way of being — committing to a time of reflection which enables me to come to some kind of right ordering of things, internally and then externally.

In my decade or so working at the Auckland City Mission, and particularly now when I’m the Manutaki Missioner, this then has been the question at the heart of it all: What is “right order”? Or simply put, what is important? What is most important? And how do I live my life aligned to that truth?

What’s Out of Order?

Every day at the Mission, we respond to poverty and great need in our city, Tāmaki Makaurau. People come to us when they need assistance — often the very basics like food and housing. And they come when their physical and mental health is compromised.

The need is huge: an estimated one in five Aucklanders is living in poverty, and that poverty has both implications and consequence. Compromised health, compromised relationships, educational and work opportunities that don’t or can’t occur, spirits that are weary and weighted, hope that is dim. Everything is not right and certainly not in right order.

From July 2022 to June 2023 we distributed with our partners just under 65,000 food parcels. Each food parcel is designed to feed a family of four, three meals for four days. That’s millions of meals.

Mothers Parenting Alone

We know through our work and by listening to the people who come to us, that the most food insecure person in our country is the mother of a family, who is more than often raising her family alone. That mother, who doesn’t have enough money for food, will reduce the quality of the food she is eating, then the amount she is eating, and then finally she will forgo particular kinds of food, for example the meat in a meal, or even the meal all together, so her children can eat. That feels very lenten, doesn’t it? But this is every day for these women and there is no choice, only necessity and love.

Effects of Hunger

Ministry of Health research (2019) tells us that the health impacts of food insecurity on children is reduced immunity and an increased risk of obesity, asthma and mental illness. Being poor compromises your physical and mental health so you are not actually starting on a level playing field. There is a direct correlation between lack of access to nutritious food and mental illness, and the level of distress that people are suffering. If you are constantly hungry, you are also unwell, distressed and, of course, nutritionally compromised at the same time.

I am immersed in the day-to-day reality of the thousands of New Zealanders who do not have access to enough money for kai, and I understand well the root causes of this dis-ease. Poverty, hunger in our country, is gendered, and it has a colour. It is rooted in racism and the effects of colonisation. Our country struggles to value parenting, and particularly we struggle to support those, usually women, who are parenting alone. The rest of us have enough and we don’t share that enoughness. We are scared, and we are afraid.

Why Do We Allow it?

So this is my day at the Mission. A day where I see this stuff, listen deeply to our staff, who receive literally hundreds of families each week who are coming to us for support. A day where I search for the money to feed people, where I work with others, both inside the Mission and beyond, to communicate how this is happening for so many in the city, and I go looking for the money that will feed people who are hungry. And, wherever I can, in whatever way I can, I/we dare to ask the question: Why? Why is this happening? Why are women and children so undervalued in our society, particularly Māori and Pasifika women?

Let's Imagine Something Better

It is not that hard to imagine another reality. Aotearoa makes enough food to feed ourselves, with loads left over. We have more than enough. In fact, in terms of food, we live in a country that is abundant. Just imagine for a moment a reality where each person, each child, each mother, has what they need. Where there is food security for everyone. And then, imagine a reality where there are leftovers. Abundance. Breathe deeply into that reality with me, please. Everyone has enough. Security. Abundance. For all.

Just imagine that Aotearoa. Imagine the energy and the wholeness. Imagine the health and wellbeing. The freedom and the hope. Imagine throwing off shame and embracing joy!

We might think that this alternative is extraordinary — but it should be our ordinary in Aotearoa. Just what would our country be like if everyone had what they needed?

We Glimpse This Right Ordering

All weeks are busy for us at the Mission but some weeks stand out. The recent emergencies have been particularly painful and challenging — at the Mission and indeed for our country. The floods, followed by the cyclone with still more flooding, ravaged the land, towns, infrastructure and our people. Many in Aotearoa are hurting deeply.

Yet amid all that crisis, I cannot begin to count how many individual and collective acts of support, generosity, compassion and even heroism I witnessed personally.

I know I'm not the only one to have seen that outpouring of neighbourly kindness in so many forms. We wanted everyone to have enough to be able to recover well from the disasters.

I firmly believe that this possibility of living as a society, a community with enough for everyone, is within our reach. It really is possible. It is possible for all mothers to have enough nourishing food for themselves and their children
in Aotearoa.

When we are brave enough to see, and courageous enough to let go and share, right order begins almost of its own accord. There really is a pathway through.

Tui Motu Magazine. Issue 279 March 2023: 8-9