Energized

Today I am feeling quite energized. I have this vision of a partnership between distributors of healthy food and the dining hall that my church operates.
There have been some amazing breakthroughs in understanding how food not only heals but maintains health when consumed in an appropriate amount and with a variety of mostly plant based foods.
The documentary Forks Over Knives and the wonderful website forksoverknives.com offer plenty of basic information regarding eating foods that are healthy while providing recipes to help people to transition away from reliance on meat and dairy and quick foods to plant based real foods. But beyond the basics, the newest studies regarding the relationship between healthy gut bacteria and mental health are really fascinating. Who would have thought that feelings do originate in the gut? Without healthy gut bacteria a person can not only feel physically out of sorts, they can suffer depression, anger, anxiety, and schizophrenia. With age, dementia can also be experienced. 
If the way we eat can affect our moods and overall mental health, then certainly it follows that people who are struggling with such problems should be provided with the best foods to build up a healthy gut. This would mean that incarcerated, institutionalized and vulnerable people who rely on food banks and soup kitchens should all be receiving great food rather than cast off food that no one else wants- that is, if we are interested in healing rather than punishment or maintenance.
I can't count the number of times I have heard someone say: "They should be grateful for what they get" when speaking about the poor or those who are otherwise being fed by others. It is an excuse for not providing food that people would be happy to serve in their own homes. Along with this sad attitude, there are people and businesses that donate foods to food banks or soup kitchens that are many months over their expiration date, vegetables that are more than 50% spoiled, or even canned or frozen food that has been on the shelf for years! During the Mad Cow scare there were several people who called at my church and wanted to donate their frozen beef for fear that it was not good to eat. That feels so wrong. Sure, hungry people can and do eat anything to stop their hunger, but when it is possible to give them good food, why don't we?
I have decided that I am going to pursue my vision, reaching out to suppliers and those who care about health. I really believe that in the end, a society will be measured by the way it treats its most vulnerable people, and that includes pregnant women needing food assistance, school children, low income families using food stamps and food pantries, all of the incarcerated, institutionalized people, and those who come day after day to eat in church halls and public facilities.
When I serve people, I want to serve them well- at home or wherever food is offered.

What did I eat today?

When people discover that my husband and I do not eat any meat or dairy they often ask what do you eat? First a confession, we have chickens and we do eat their eggs. They are yard chickens,  free to roam around our fenced property -- although I do try hard to keep them out of the gardens. The six  hens eat whatever they can scratch up along with leftovers from our plates, and organic corn and food pellets whenever they want them. Having made my disclaimer, I thought I would offer some ideas for menus without meat and dairy.

My husband and I are both over 65 so we don't use as much energy as younger people or those who do physical labor might. Please take your own energy needs into account!

Breakfast is generally a scramble using two eggs, one for each of us, except during the dark winter months when there might be only one egg to add, or no eggs at all. We NEVER purchase eggs. If the hens aren't laying, we aren't eating eggs. Once in a while we might add leftover tofu or tempeh instead.
Into the morning scramble goes leftover vegetables from dinners the previous nights. We might begin with chopping up some onion, garlic, or celery and then in the summer adding fresh sliced eggplant and green pepper from the garden, a handful of sesame seeds to up the nutrition, and then some left over mushrooms, beans, squash, or greens, and a bit of basil - either flower buds when they are fresh or dried buds or fresh leaves in the off seasons. Just before scrambling in any eggs if they are available, some leftover rice, quinoa, buckwheat or polenta is added. When the eggs are done we sit down to eat the scramble with a cup of tea. We eat the same whenever we are at home together year round.

Lunch time is not formal unless I am working and then I will look for soup or salad since I do not eat breakfast foods except at home. We both work but I work away from home 4-5 days a week. Our routine is based on that assumption. At home for snack/ lunch I usually have a handful of nuts - almonds, hazelnuts and either walnuts or sunflower seeds. I may also have a handful of crackers, gluten free as my husband is Celiac and I am sensitive. A piece of fruit if it is available rounds out the snack/lunch for me along with a cup of tea or coffee.  Holds me over fine until dinner which my husband and I always eat together even it is means eating after 9 PM when I get home.

Dinner time menus vary with the seasons. Tonight we will enjoy freshly made walnut basil pesto on rice noodles. There will be a side of fresh tomatoes with lettuce, some fresh green beans from the garden and nice glass of watered wine. I always water my wine... I like it better actually, the wine goes farther and I am not affected by the alcohol. (I generally have a pint glass of ice cold water filled two thirds full. To this I add just under a quarter cup of wine.- really its very refreshing!) 

On other nights dinner might be homemade falafals with tahini sauce, a side of hummus, wild rice,  salad and steamed greens. We eat a lot of kale and chard from the garden, and buy spinach and collards throughout the year. We also grow beets and carrots and enjoy adding them in to whatever we are having. We often enjoy a root vegetable medley: a potato or two, sunchokes, a carrot and a few small beets steamed together with garlic salt and olive oil lightly drizzled over the top.  Ground cherries, figs and berries are lovely for desert or snacks in season, and so are applesauce and rhubarb sauces made from our garden produce.

Another favorite for dinner is tempeh which we heat in olive oil or steam on top of rice and flavor with tamari. My husband also makes nut spreads, referred to by some plant eaters as 'nut cheeses'. These are quick and easy to put together. We always have a wide variety of dried beans and lentils on hand year round. Red beans, Kidney beans, white beans, black eyed peas, and the like all take just a while to cook when we remember to soak them the night before! Beans, grain, and greens seasoned with garlic oil are staples during the winter time. And of course, winter squash is lovely when available and soup on a cold evening is welcome and easy to put together.

The variety of vegetables and fruits that grace our table during the year are quite delicious. We don't worry about having lots of any one thing, remembering that soups and casseroles and hash are all ways that leftovers and small amounts can be used to make something quite tasty with a variety of nutrients as well -- all without any meat or dairy.

So that is all for now. Lucky for me I just ate! I hope you are up to experimenting with new tastes and animal free meals.  

Some things really are better.

102 degrees, about 25 degrees above my ideal temperature.
It was a good day anyway. We took several of our grandchildren to cool off down at the river - the Willamette River. I grew up in Portland and we never went down to the Willamette River to cool off. I raised my children in the same area and never took them down to the River either although I know that as they became teenagers they did venture down to the river with friends. My family did not have a tradition of playing in the water of the Willamette so I did not even think about the fact that my children were growing up within walking distance and I never took them there.
When I was a child my parents took us to the Sandy River or to the Columbia by Rooster Rock. There were a few times when we went to a picnic site near the Clackamas but it was rare if we got in the water because the Clackamas River was deemed "too cold and too unstable" because of dams up river. This was just the way I was brought up to think about the rivers.
It is really perplexing considering how much my children and grandchildren enjoy the rivers today - unless of course, I stop to think about how polluted the Willamette River was in the time when my children were growing up. No one went there unless they were too poor to go anywhere else. Being in the Willamette was just not something one did or even thought about. Even when I was a child the river was considered more of a working river with its steam plants and industries nearby than it was a river for people to enjoy.
But things have changed. The River is clean and it is a place to enjoy and protect. Portland's Big Pipe sewer project took 20 years to complete creating many impatient people as the project slowly progressed through neighborhoods and along major pipe routes where streets and sewers had to be dug up and replaced. But it was finished, and the project very successfully stopped sewage overflow into the river during heavy rainstorms.
Once, about 20 years ago I remember a particularly heavy Portland rain that overfilled the sewers and caused water to geyser up out of the street sewers in the areas of inner southeast Portland close to the river. In fact, in the church where I worked there was water coming up out of the basement toilets... disgusting. But today the Big Pipe Project has ended such events leaving the tellers of such stories to be questioned for our ability to really remember... yes! those are true events. I even kept waders in my office in case I had to help bail out the basement!    
Today the Willamette River is filled with happy leisure time river people in boats, kayaks and canoes, swimming, wake boarding and just floating along. We humans are mostly water in our physical makeup and the need for clean water and access to the river ways is fundamental to who we are.
I am grateful for all who put their energy into cleaning up the Willamette, to the Columbia River Keepers who keep an eye on the Big River and all who keep the waterways in mind as they work to keep the river clean for the future. We don't need to go backward with coal or oil terminals. Some things really are better. Let's rejoice in good progress - but maintain our vigilance.    

Getting Educated

I attended and really enjoyed the Social Action Summer Institute this past week. It is always invigorating to be with so many people who are passionate about social justice and the environment in particular. We were frequently reminded that Pope Francis is not saying anything new – the last few Popes have all spoken out strongly regarding the care of creation: Pope Benedict was actually known as the green Pope. He was the Pope who among other things, saw to it that the Vatican became a sustainable city with power generated by solar panels. The difference in my opinion is that Pope Francis not only advocates from his position of church leadership, he lives what he advocates in his own personal life, in the way he chooses to dress, to drive, to live in community and to constantly seek the company of the poor and powerless. He challenges everyone by the choices he makes.
 

The Encyclical, Laudato Si' was at the center of all conversations and workshops. There is so much to ponder and to take into account that the Encyclical will most likely be a major force in my thinking for some time to come. We were also reminded that we need to help one another in the process of changing to a simplified way of living that will promote healing for Creation and enhance the lives of the many poor and vulnerable people who have not had their basic needs met while others have continued to live with more than their share. 

On Monday I went up the gorge to Cascade Locks with a group of people to hear from Wilbur Slokish Jr. who is the hereditary chief of the Klickitat Tribe. He has been fighting all of his life, in the same way that his father and grandfather did, to maintain fishing rights for the River People. When he was a young man he was arrested for taking fish across the state line. He had traveled by boat from one side of the Columbia River to the other. Altogether there were 16 fish in his boat. Wilbur spent three years in jail because he would not renounce his right to fish – rights that belonged to his people according to signed treaties.      

He tells a powerful story of fighting for his people and the many obstacles and ignorant people he must encounter. At the same time he was very gracious, thanking us for listening to him. One of the group members asked him how he could be so generous and kind to us since we were mostly a group of white people descended from European conquerors. Chief Slokish said that many years ago he had prayed asking why God had allowed the Europeans to come and inhabit the land. God answered him saying that the Europeans had much to learn and Wilbur’s people could teach them. 

Wow! He is so right. 

I took the picture below near where the family home of Chief Slokish used to be on the edge of the Columbia River. Across the river are the train tracks and I saw at least one very long train while we were there. I hope and pray that we won't be seeing coal trains or oil tankers with the potential to further devastate this gorgeous habitat.  

eating my words

I keep getting myself in trouble because I can't keep my mouth closed.
Last January I fell into a rabbit hole. Some new information was given to me, or maybe old information given in a new way, and since that moment I can't bring myself to eat any animal products outside of the eggs my own chickens lay -- and even those I am feeling less and less open to.

Years ago when I stopped eating meat, but still ate fish and eggs and dairy, I discovered that I could no longer walk by the meat section of a store. When I looked at meat, I saw flesh, body parts, dead animals and other such things that I was not used to seeing before. But I could still purchase meat for guests or when shopping for my mom. I just detached myself from what I was looking at so that it became lean or fat or chops that were thick or thin, but not something that used to be living.

I stopped eating meat for political reasons. I was aware that the quantity of meat consumed by wealthier countries was impacting food availability in less affluent parts of the world. Slowly I realized that meat eating was detrimental to health and then last January I became aware first that the industrial animal agri-business was emitting more greenhouse gases than the entire transportation sector and right after that, I went down the hole. My eyes were opened to the reality that a real live animal with nerves to sense pain and sense enough to know that it was miserable, was being killed, was having its young murdered, all so that meat was available on the human table along with milk and cheese and other tasty delights. All such food products instantly lost their tastiness. No longer were they delights. I was finished with that part of my life. No longer could I participate in the intentional killing of other animals so that I could eat them.

When the lens that protected me from this obvious realization dropped away, I fell hard, down the rabbit hole of a reality that had always been right in front of me. I just never saw it before.

Now I can't stop talking about it. I want other people to know what happens to animals, how we raise them without any opportunity to have a real life, how we manipulate the lives they have - modifying their bodies whenever possible to augment their "tastiness," shorten the time it takes them to grow, multiple their offspring, or otherwise increase their dollar value to their owners. I am horrified in many ways by what I have learned and some part of me wants to believe that others will feel the same. So far, that is rarely true. I blurt out the truth or sometimes merely allude to it and immediately I wish I could eat my words.

How do people survive in a meat eating culture when their eyes are suddenly wide open?
There must be people to offer advice, consolation or support. (Are you out there?)

Meanwhile, I try to keep my words light and not too filling.
     

A Pope Challenges People to Change

The New Encyclical by Pope Francis, Laudato Si',  On Care for our Common Home marks Francis as a prophet for our time, but he also calls everyone who pays attention to live in a prophetic way. I think that this means, each person needs to pay closer attention to the way they live as creatures, interdependent upon one another and the natural world.

In Chapter IV of the Encyclical, Joy and Peace, section #222, Pope Francis has this to say:

Christian spirituality proposes an alternative understanding of the quality of life, and encourages a prophetic and contemplative lifestyle, one capable of deep enjoyment free of the obsession with consumption. We need to take up an ancient lesson, found in different religious traditions and also in the Bible. It is the conviction that “less is more”. A constant flood of new consumer goods can baffle the heart and prevent us from cherishing each thing and each moment. To be serenely present to each reality, however small it may be, opens us to much greater horizons of understanding and personal fulfillment. Christian spirituality proposes a growth marked by moderation and the capacity to be happy with little. It is a return to that simplicity which allows us to stop and appreciate the small things, to be grateful for the opportunities which life affords us, to be spiritually detached from what we possess, and not to succumb to sadness for what we lack. This implies avoiding the dynamic of dominion and the mere accumulation of pleasures.

In the last few weeks I have found myself immersed in the writings of Christian Theologians that I had not read before. One reference led me to the work of John Zizioulas who is the Metropolitan of Pergamon in Greece.(His title is the equivalent of an Archbishop but in the Orthodox Church.)

Zizioulas has very interesting things to say regarding the way that people are called to live in harmony or balance with creation. In the first of his Lectures on Preserving God’s Creation he says this.

 “I feel that our culture needs to realize that the superiority of the human being over the rest of creation does not consist in the reason it possesses, but in its ability to relate in such a way as to create events of communion, whereby individual beings are liberated from their limitations, and are referred to something greater than themselves – to God.”

He explains that men and women create events of communion not as thinking agents but as persons in relationship to other creatures in creation. This sense of relationship he defines as a "transcending relatedness more or less corresponding to love in its deepest sense."

The underlying assumption of his work is that there is an interdependence between the Human and Nature such that the human being is not fulfilled until it becomes the summing up of nature – in other words, humans are fulfilled when their lives reflect harmony with the natural environment.

How different that focus is from the typical striving of people in the western world where material goods are the sign of success. 

Pope Francis has thrown out a challenge to all people to live with greater simplicity and concern for Creation. People of faith he has challenged to live in a way that leads others to the changes needed. Communities of faith are not to wait for the example of leaders or the laws of the land to change, rather they are to be the leaders, living now in ways that guide and teach others - whether in family, neighborhood, work environment or larger communities- how to live in harmony with creation. First of course many will need to learn how.

The Metropolitan Zizioulas names relating to all other creatures with the deepest sense of love as being "priests of creation."

Love perseveres regardless of immediate outcome. Love puts the other first rather than the self. This way of living would indeed change a culture and positively impact the world. Wouldn't it be lovely if Christians did something so profound?

a week of pivotal moments

I took some time off during the last week. It was mostly time to gather with family and friends and to do some deep reflection on the life I live in communion with others, beginning with my husband, children and extended family – but connecting outward to my near neighbors, my companions along the way and the wider world of people and creatures and all of creation.

It was inspiring to read Laudato Sii, the Encyclical on Ecology written by Pope Francis. With the publication of this document it felt like a sea of energy was let loose into the commons where people of all faiths and even those of no faith could together embrace the call to come together to care for our common home.

Casting a shadow on the joy of the publication of Laudato Sii was the horrible event in Charleston which happened about the same time. In Charleston a young man let loose racial hatred and fear, murdering nine innocent black people who had gathered to study and pray. The tragedy shouted out one more time: This nation has not yet fully addressed the smoldering racial tensions just below the surface of society, and it continues to fail tragically in response to gun control and violence.

On Tuesday I met with the Mayor at a gathering that included about a dozen others who work with environmental organizations to influence policy that is kind to Creation.  The mayor has been invited to Rome to participate with mayors from 40 other cities around the world in a conference titled Modern Slavery and Climate Change. The Tuesday meeting was an opportunity for the Mayor to gather insights from community members regarding the city and climate issues before going to Rome. Another group will be giving the mayor thoughts regarding the city and Modern Slavery -- (human trafficking).

The very next day the Supreme Court once again affirmed the Affordable Healthcare Act allowing millions of people covered by insurance from the Federal pool to give a collective sigh of relief: they will continue to have coverage. There was great rejoicing at this victory – though some people seem bound and determined to take healthcare away from vulnerable people. Undoubtedly there will continue to be challenges down the road.

The next day, Thursday, I awoke to the news that the Supreme Court had affirmed the right for all citizens to marry the person they love regardless of gender. As I listened to some of the excited responses it was clear that for some people another chapter in the culture wars was ramping up. There was lots of joy and relief surrounded by confusion, fear and prejudice.

All of these were pivotal moments in just one week’s time. 

My spiritual goal is to live a life of Compassionate Presence, conscious of the suffering and pain that exists and ready to do what I can to create harmony and peace, living without fear, holding on to hope and encountering others with compassionate presence wherever I find myself, whatever I am called to do. Everything is connected.  Everything we do matters.

In paragraph 91 of Laudato Si, Pope Francis says this:

91. A sense of deep communion with the rest of nature cannot be real if our hearts lack tenderness, compassion and concern for our fellow human beings. It is clearly inconsistent to combat trafficking in endangered species while remaining completely indifferent to human trafficking, unconcerned about the poor, or undertaking to destroy another human being deemed unwanted. This compromises the very meaning of our struggle for the sake of the environment. It is no coincidence that, in the canticle in which Saint Francis praises God for his creatures, he goes on to say: “Praised be you my Lord, through those who give pardon for your love.” Everything is connected. Concern for the environment thus needs to be joined to a sincere love for our fellow human beings and an unwavering commitment to resolving the problems of society.

I think that says what I believe at this moment after all of those other moments of the week.

Take time. Don't be afraid. Act with love. 

Live in the present moment with as much compassionate presence as possible.