Pastor Annette's Blog
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"OF ALL THE THINGS GOD HAS SHOWN ME, I CAN SPEAK BUT A LITTLE WORD . . . NOT MORE THAN A HONEYBEE CAN CARRY AWAY ON ITS FOOT FROM AN OVERFLOWING JAR."
~ MECHTHILD OF MAGDEBURG, 13TH CENTURY MYSTIC |
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September 17, 2024 Beloved: One Monday a month I cook almost all day. Meal prepping is the trendy word for it. But mostly, it’s because for the life of me I cannot figure out how to cook for just one person. The few years I cooked for two are now a distant memory. The nearly two decades I cooked for five are what’s embedded in my brain now. When the kids were growing and eating like horses, I was at the grocery store every other day and cooked supper every night. What leftovers were left weren’t left long. When two of my kids swam competitively, they ate supper twice a day, drank six gallons of milk a week, and leftovers were not a thing. First of all, it’s hard to shop for one, to buy just one chicken breast, two parsnips and three carrots, as my recipes yesterday required. I could do it, I suppose, if I wanted to shop the butcher’s case and a produce stand. And sell some plasma on the way in order to fund such high end fare. The beef stew I made called for a three pound roast. I could cut it down to a single serving - but I’m not sure even the butcher shop is going to sell me a six-ounce cut of chuck roast. So I made the whole recipe for about $30, or $5 a serving, and froze all but the one I’ll eat for lunch today. Far richer food than I could buy anywhere else for $5. Prideful, I’ll admit, is how I feel to see my little freezer stacked with containers of homemade food. But also, deeply grateful. Grateful too, for the food, the freezer, the farmer and the grocer. For the truck drivers and logisticians who move all this food from field to store. Grateful especially for the congregation who employs me and maintains just working conditions, so I have both the money and the time required to take good care of myself. I haven’t checked but I wonder if any of the meal prep content creators on social media have noted that that whole idea rests in privilege: in having the money to buy, the time to prepare and the space to store batches of meals? I’d bet my favorite pen no single parent working two minimum wage jobs to pay rent and feed her kids spends $150 and an entire day meal prepping. ($150 wouldn’t buy much for a family with kids when eggs are $3.42 a dozen!*) All of which is to say, I’ve tried to dial back on the pridefulness, trade it for another dose of humility in recognition of the privilege I did not earn so much as inherit and with which I must sit lightly, and responsibly. First of all, by not wasting food. Also, sharing it whenever I get the chance. I can also eat less - three meals daily is not a world-wide phenomenon, nor is meat at every meal. At any meal with meat, I am trying to pile on the green stuff. The cheaper green stuff, which is not my favorite but I’m working on it. I’ll eat the beef stew poured over spinach. The recipe below includes something I can’t believe I just discovered: stirring tahini** and balsamic vinegar together to drizzle over cooked green beans. Honestly I think I might eat corn cobs if they were doused in this concoction. As well, stirring tahini gives your arm muscles a workout, so there is that.  I tripled the amount of green beans. Next time I’ll add mushrooms too. Tofu would work in place of chicken. It’s really, really good, and not wildly expensive. Rice would stretch it even more. Eating is so fundamental to existence and yet we are easily convinced it is a chore to be done with as quickly as possible. Even if you don’t spend hours at a time making ready, I pray some part of your day contains time and space to be grateful for how fortunate you are, for food to eat and people with whom to eat it. Hardly anything else is so deeply human. ~ peace and prayers, pastor annette *A quick internet comparison of Kroger, Walmart and Aldi’s showed Walmart's best price, non-organic, certainly not cage free, eggs at $3.42, compared to $3.77 at Aldi’s and $3.79 at Kroger. From there prices jump to over $4 all the way to $8 a dozen for some organic, cage free eggs. The average price a year ago was $2.80. Something like a 35% increase just to the lowest local. It’s like my mortgage going up $528 in one year. I’d have to cash out my retirement, or move. **Tahini is roasted sesame seeds, oil and salt - emulsified like peanut butter, only much stiffer.
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 September 10, 2024
Beloved: I am so sorry to disappear without warning for two whole weeks but I suddenly had better things to do, specifically a new grandbaby, who came 18 days before his due date. To quote Mary Poppins, he’s practically perfect in every way and his mama is doing well too. His sister, who turns 3 today, was my main responsibility along with meals, laundry and dogs, and is completely in love with her brother, though she has made it clear, I don’t like this crying. I lived at their house a week and have come and gone since, but we are all settling into the wonder of a whole new human being in our midst. Ah, change – the greatest delight and deepest distress of life. Depending entirely upon if we chose to change or if change chose us. We may actively anticipate change the way families prepare for a new baby, “nesting” it’s called. Other times life goes from sugar to salt in the time it takes to cross the room or to read a single text message. In both, sweetness is to be found on the other side of the transition. The difference is how long it takes. A pediatrician I know says the four-month checkup is when they notice families with a newborn are usually into their new normal. Two years, more or less, is what therapists tell clients recovering from divorce. After seven years, the death of a child begins to soften in the hearts and minds of parents. Soften, not recover or heal, just soften. But truth be told, each person’s healing or transition after change takes as long as it takes. No matter how well we plan nor how great a surprise the change, our hearts’ and minds’ adjustment is real. New habits and routines take time, longer still if trauma has occurred. Even a welcome new baby comes with some trauma to their mama! A therapist once told me that human beings seem to have a built-in resistance to change. I notice it in my tendency to be excited about a big trip until the week before I leave, then I don’t want to go. I get anxious about packing and travel logistics. Once I’m on the way, I’m excited again but for those few days I feel the inertia that wants me stuck in the self that hasn’t gone new places, seen new sights, met new people, done new things. That is, the self that hasn’t changed. The simple-but-not-so-easy solution is to keep packing and drive to the airport, the ordinary tasks of moving forward while being gentle with my fearful self all the while. She is going to be fine. Better than fine, actually. She is going to be amazing. Whatever change you are facing or is facing you, keep going. Keep going through the ordinary motions this day requires, and be as tenderhearted and kind to yourself as you can. I look forward to seeing you at our regular programming this week. ~ peace & prayers, pastor annette |
I write a Tuesday morning devotional to members and friends of UBC. It is also posted here.
Enjoy! Pastor Annette Copyright
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