Reunion dinner

Did you have a real nice reunion dinner last night? Did you enjoy the meal on the table? Was the food so much in excess until you couldn't finish everything and the balance had to go into the fridge? That's what my family did with the food we couldn't finish. It was simply too much for a family of five.

In case you are also feeling a little guilty, here is a sobering thought to accompany your sumptuous reunion dinner. Please do not throw away any unfinished food. We should thank God for the abundance on our plates. Elsewhere on this planet, there are people who are not so lucky as us. Consider ourselves lucky, very lucky, that we are not like the poor people of Haiti.

Earlier this month, a news item came out to say that the poor in Haiti are resorting to eat dirt in order to survive. Dirt. mud ... they are the same. The poor there are eating mud cookies made from dirt, salt and vegetable shortening in order to survive. Malnutrition is rife in this Caribbean country which is one of the poorest nations on earth and it kills one in five children under the age of five.

So everytime you look at the plentiful food on your plate, think about the people of Haiti. Think about their plight. And thank God again that this land is a still a land of abundance. Happy Chinese New Year to you.