“For what we give, we shall receive

“For what we give, we shall receive. And for every gift that is received, an offering shall be required.” God, the giver, provides food to nourish humankind. Human beings, in turn, are obliged to use the strength imparted by food to serve others. Thus, life on earth is an experience in community: the immediate community of family, the surrounding community, and the global community—all mutually serving each other. In this same spirit, over two hundred years after that saying was painted on the wall of the langar hall, Mahatma Gandhi wrote to his disciple, the english woman Mirabhain, “eat your food thankfully and keep yourself fit for service.”