On Food

On Food

The Earth and our Creator give so freely and abundantly—everything creation needs in order to thrive. It’s all there, doing its thing. Have you noticed the apples hanging from trees all over town? Whether a human tends the tree or not, it produces fruit. That’s what it was made to do. Berries cover bushes and vines, mushrooms spring up from the ground, nuts fall from trees. The earth gives, and we take and receive what we need. Except that we’ve commodified food. We’ve put a price on it. The price is too much for some people to pay, and we’ve decided that’s okay. The economy takes priority over people’s lives. What is given freely by our God is hoarded and withheld from God’s people.  God must weep!  

It feels like too small a response, but I’ve been encouraged by the folks at St Andrew’s who say “we will not stop feeding people.” And they’re right. This community is determined to do what it takes to share food with hungry neighbors. The pantry is here, there are amazing volunteers, and people are donating more than they’ve given before simply so the pantry can maintain its operations. We are well situated to meet this moment, thanks to the Spirit and the ancestors and the dear ones who run the pantry today.  We are expecting more clients needing food in the coming weeks.  We pray and trust we’ll be ready, with God’s help.