The Children We Already Have

Representative Todd Akin ignited a firestorm of controversy with his recent remarks about rape and abortion which, once again, put the debate about abortion front and center on the political stage. And, while I could weigh in with my two cents about what it might really mean to be pro-life, or about men, all to easily, making decisions that deeply concern women, it was the Craisins package on our dinner table that caught my attention. There on the back on the bottom right hand corner were the words No Kid Hungry promoting a campaign to end childhood hunger by 2015.

And here is what I found myself thinking about…
We fight tooth and nail over unborn children spending untold amounts of time and money to shout down those with whom we disagree, and we forget and ignore the children we already have. The children who tonight will go to bed hungry and who will wake up tomorrow morning hungry. The children who will go to schools that are understaffed and under-equipped. We forget the children who can not play outside for fear of stray gunfire. We ignore children who live in homes or apartments that are over-crowded or falling down.  We forget the children we already have.

I know it is wishful thinking…
But in this season of heightened political rhetoric I wish just one politician…
One leader…
Would stand up and say, with the intensity and the commitment used when we argue about abortion:
“In this great nation let us do all that we are capable of doing so that tonight no child will go to bed hungry. And, no child will be afraid to go outside and play. And, no child will go to school this fall that is underfunded. Let us do all that we are capable of doing to care for the children we already have!”