Art Simon, founder of Bread for the World, has died. Art was the son of our former church member Ruth Simon. Art worshiped here at Good Shepherd when visiting his mother. The whole family is full of interesting stories.
1. When Ruth was a newborn, she was left on the side of the road in Iowa. A Lutheran pastor found her and took her to an orphanage. Eventually they sent her to a Lutheran family in St. Louis. Her adoptive mother died, and Ruth was sent to another family. Ruth claimed the mother in this family tried to poison her. She firmly believed that Holy Cross Lutheran School, in St. Louis, saved her life by sustaining her faith in Jesus. To the end of her life, she was a strong advocate for Lutheran schools.2. Ruth married Martin Simon, who went to China as a missionary for The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. During a rebellion in China, they were forced to return to the US. Together they published a Lutheran family magazine and wrote one of the most well-known children's devotional books in the Lutheran church: Little Visits with God. I grew up on this devotional book and still remember some of the stories. One story was about a gorilla in the zoo who hoarded all the food, but it was too much for him to eat himself. Another story was about a poor family who prayed to God for food. A rainstorm came up suddenly and washed the labels off some food cans that were displayed outside a grocery story. They ended up giving the cans of food to the poor family.
3. Paul Simon, their other son, dropped out of college and bought the Troy, Illinois newspaper. He started investigating the well-known Collinsville gangster Buster Wortman. Ruth claimed his work helped bring down the gangster and led Paul into politics. Paul became a senator from Illinois. When he ran for president, Ruth called every LCMS pastor in the state of Iowa before the Iowa Caucuses. Ruth was very pro-life, especially considering her "foundling" experience. However, she firmly believed to the end of her life that her son Paul was also "pro-life." Paul told me that he took the "I'm personally against abortion" approach. He believed that laws against abortion were like laws that forced people to attend church. In the end, they just wouldn't work. After Ruth died I lost contact with Paul. But I think his mother would have been disappointed with some of his writings about abortion.
4. I read Bread for the World in college and would agree with Art that evil politics plays a major role in the problem of hunger throughout the world. But underlying the politics are evil worldviews and cultural traditions. Advocating for better politics is good, and it is an important part of our vocation as citizens. But believing, living, and preaching the Gospel to all the world is the most important thing we can do to push back on evil. Ruth would have absolutely agreed with this.
5. Ruth was an incredibly servant minded person, a virtue that she passed on to her sons. She was worship and Bible study every Sunday. She personally called every acolyte the week before they were scheduled to serve in order to remind them. She often ran errands and gave rides to all the "older ladies" of the church. In most cases these ladies were younger than Ruth. I remember when Paul and Art came to take her car away from her. That was devastating for Ruth. But I encouraged her to keep serving by devoting the rest of her life to prayer. She did that, and finished the race well. She left a good legacy for all to follow.
