Just about a month ago, I decided to take the plunge into a diet of only things grown from the Earth, excluding all animals and any by-product thereof. It all came about because I was thinking about vegans and what they eat and how they could possibly survive without eggs, milk, or, most importantly, ice cream. I did some research and discovered that their meals and diets reflected what I wanted to eat but always chose the easier, tastier animal-laden options.
I put myself up to a challenge, and a pretty daunting one for a cheeseburger-eating, ice cream addicted, carnivore. My initial thought was to make a permanent switch to veganism but that was quickly squelched by the thought of an approaching cruise vacation where I would be doing humanity a disservice by not eating the delicious food prepared. So I cut back to an experiment, giving the whole “vegan” thing a shot for a month. I have three days left and must say that my attempt at an animal-free diet has been surprisingly and overwhelmingly enjoyable. I may, in fact, find ways to incorporate such a diet into my post-vacation life.
My point in telling you all this is that my diet shift actually incited in me many changes and revelations that I wasn’t expecting. Because animal products exist in most mass-produced food, I found myself reading ingredients of every thing I put into my mouth that I didn’t prepare. Just by turning the packaging over, I was mercilessly forced to see the nutrition facts which subsequently caused me to put the food down. That being said, I have become way more aware of what I am putting into my body and have begun to treat it like the gift it is.
Additionally, being a vegan isn’t, by any stretch of the imagination, convenient. A snack isn’t as easy to get your hands on so I found myself eating less and choosing foods like fruit and vegetables to satisfy my need for a snack rather than the cookies or chips I previously reached for. This sparked some in-depth thought processes in my head that led me to thinking about how easily we take the convenience of food for granted. We live in an age where there are stores open 24 hours that have bananas in the middle of winter, foot-long sandwiches with all the fix-ins, and soda or juice that was bottled in a land far and away. And even further, for the food-insecure in our very own country, my inability to find anything to eat in a house full of food (by my determination, let me clarify), it makes me appreciate the convenience and abundance of the food I can easily purchase whenever I have a craving.
I also found myself being more careful with the words I used to describe my diet... being mindful of the fact that I could, in fact eat meat or ice cream or Oreos if I wanted, but that I was choosing not to. And that a vegan encompasses far more than a diet, but a lifestyle absent of any animal products, therefore I would say "I'm not eating animal right now," which inevitable sparked smiles and odd looks of questioning.
Eating closer to the Earth, I found that there was a generally simplicity (though it was difficult) to my diet, to my lifestyle for the past month.
I know this seems like an odd post for a soup kitchen blog and it is. Who really wants to learn about some random girl’s weird, masochistic dieting habits? But I think apart from learning how to cook tofu and tempeh (which I didn’t even know existed until a month ago), the simplicity I learned, the convenience of, or appreciation for abundantly, accessible food, and the care with which we must treat all of God's creation struck a thicker chord for me. I won’t lie, I’m really looking forward to a big, juicy cheeseburger on Sunday (February 28th marking the end of my experiment), but my body will certainly miss the healthy, vegan diet of February.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Oh Lent...
Our quest for salvation, redemption, and unconditional love comes to a head as we begin our individual and communal Lenten journeys. Everyone knows how Lent ends: Jesus is crucified, our deep-rooted and innate original sin is forgiven, and we feel a sense of relief from the sacrifices that have been self-imposed for the previous forty days in solidarity with the sacrifice of Jesus in the desert.
Our awareness of this assured redemption, though, hinders the manner in which we carry ourselves day-to-day. Jesus died for our salvation, leaving us the ability to act however we choose, or at least that would be the easy way out.
I have recently been trudging through “The Cost of Discipleship” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran theologian, and he distinguishes between cheap grace and costly grace. He says that so many people use the isolated incident of the crucifixion as their solitary point of salvation, rather than constantly living their lives as if they must earn their seat in Heaven. Their reckoning has already been achieved and therefore there is no inherent need to live their lives in a way that is worthy of the title “Christian.”
He challenges his audience to look beyond the cheap way out. When we are faced with the opportunity for sin, knowing that we are redeemed (because we know how the Jesus’ story ends), it makes the choice easier because we know we will be forgiven, better, that we already have been.
Despite that one death on a cross, our Christian identification should be a constant effort, a constant call, and an honor for which we must continuously strive. So as we begin Lent this year, our challenge comes in pretending that we do not know how the story ends, that we live each day enveloped by costly grace, bearing the cross of original sin. It’s painful, it is certainly costly, and it requires a prodigious amount of sacrifice, but it seems that if somebody could do it for us, the least we could do is try.
Our awareness of this assured redemption, though, hinders the manner in which we carry ourselves day-to-day. Jesus died for our salvation, leaving us the ability to act however we choose, or at least that would be the easy way out.
I have recently been trudging through “The Cost of Discipleship” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran theologian, and he distinguishes between cheap grace and costly grace. He says that so many people use the isolated incident of the crucifixion as their solitary point of salvation, rather than constantly living their lives as if they must earn their seat in Heaven. Their reckoning has already been achieved and therefore there is no inherent need to live their lives in a way that is worthy of the title “Christian.”
He challenges his audience to look beyond the cheap way out. When we are faced with the opportunity for sin, knowing that we are redeemed (because we know how the Jesus’ story ends), it makes the choice easier because we know we will be forgiven, better, that we already have been.
Despite that one death on a cross, our Christian identification should be a constant effort, a constant call, and an honor for which we must continuously strive. So as we begin Lent this year, our challenge comes in pretending that we do not know how the story ends, that we live each day enveloped by costly grace, bearing the cross of original sin. It’s painful, it is certainly costly, and it requires a prodigious amount of sacrifice, but it seems that if somebody could do it for us, the least we could do is try.
Friday, February 12, 2010
There's no business like SNOW business! (pardon the pun)
Philadelphia has experienced a record-breaking winter with 70.3 inches of snow fall so far (with another storm brewing for next week already)! In all fairness, all that snow has come from just three pretty hefty snowstorms, one back in December and two within the past week! With 25" of snowfall last Saturday, the city was just making its way back to normalcy when a storm from the southwest collided with one from the midwest, dropping another 18 or so inches on
the city. We are effectively up to our waists in snow and I love it!For those of you who may not know, I am from New Hampshire. Winter means snow. Snow means plows and
shoveling. And life goes on. But for the city of Philadelphia, snow means utter paralysis and, quite honestly, it's funny if not completely ludicrous. Without snow removal tactics, there are still enormous piles of snow sitting in the middle of the main roads, as we all wait patiently for the sun to melt them away. Schools are closed for the 4th day this week and city offices are just opening up again since Tuesday! I won't say that I'm not grateful for a city that not only doesn't have plows but also nowhere to put the snow, as it means I was off of work for two days, but for a northerner, it all seems rather crazy.
We were blessed this week to have a group from Raleigh, NC to serve with us! With our groups canceling left and right, we were grateful for their presence, as they not only helped us serve meals (albeit to crowds of less than 200), they also helped us dig our way out of the snow storm! So they'll characterize their time in Philadelphia with snow, snow, and more snow, and some soup served in there too!
The beautiful blanket of fresh white snow is almost cathartic. It oddly offers a sense of peace and rebirth. There was a quiet that I've never heard in Kensington. We're just waiting for the snow to melt to be back to our familiar streets.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
The 1st Congressional District of PA is the 2nd hungriest in the nation!
In a recent front-page article published in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia is cited for being the 2nd hungriest district in the nation, second to the Bronx. I'll post the link at the end of my schpiel, but I wanted to spend some time reflecting on what this means.
In a survey done by the Food Research Action Center (FRAC), 500,000 Americans were polled and one of the questions was "Have there been times in the past 12 months when you did not have enough money to buy food that you or your family needed?" In this district (which includes North and South Philly as well as Chester), 36% of households said yes. The national average was 18%. Of the 500,000 polled, 1 in 4 households with children experienced food insecurity between January 2008 and December 2009.
At St. Francis Inn, we see the face of hunger in the 1st Congressional District, and we do our best to meet those needs. But this study shows us that it's more than children not getting enough food and waiting in line to eat, that it's a significant problem this region is facing and the effects of which will be felt for years to come. The article interviews the executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger (link also posted below), who discusses longevity of this issue, saying that hungry children now, create a weak labor force twenty years from now, with kids that are cognitively, physically and emotionally delayed because of the lack of adequate nutrition they experienced in childhood.
What are the solutions? It's hard to say. But that doesn't mean the issues shouldn't be addressed, that people shouldn't be held accountable, that steps shouldn't be taken. In a project I am doing for graduate school, I will be joining the efforts of GPCAH to address the childhood hunger issue in Philadelphia. But you can check out the GPCAH website to see what they're doing to combat hunger, specifically childhood hunger, in the Philly area.
Inquirer Article
Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger
In a survey done by the Food Research Action Center (FRAC), 500,000 Americans were polled and one of the questions was "Have there been times in the past 12 months when you did not have enough money to buy food that you or your family needed?" In this district (which includes North and South Philly as well as Chester), 36% of households said yes. The national average was 18%. Of the 500,000 polled, 1 in 4 households with children experienced food insecurity between January 2008 and December 2009.
At St. Francis Inn, we see the face of hunger in the 1st Congressional District, and we do our best to meet those needs. But this study shows us that it's more than children not getting enough food and waiting in line to eat, that it's a significant problem this region is facing and the effects of which will be felt for years to come. The article interviews the executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger (link also posted below), who discusses longevity of this issue, saying that hungry children now, create a weak labor force twenty years from now, with kids that are cognitively, physically and emotionally delayed because of the lack of adequate nutrition they experienced in childhood.
What are the solutions? It's hard to say. But that doesn't mean the issues shouldn't be addressed, that people shouldn't be held accountable, that steps shouldn't be taken. In a project I am doing for graduate school, I will be joining the efforts of GPCAH to address the childhood hunger issue in Philadelphia. But you can check out the GPCAH website to see what they're doing to combat hunger, specifically childhood hunger, in the Philly area.
Inquirer Article
Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger
Thursday, January 28, 2010
"Instead of funding the status quo, we only invest in reform."
I am going to admit, before we go any further, that I am biased. About most things, but also about the State of the Union. So take what I’m going to say with a grain of salt. But I would like to discuss it, ever so delicately, because what Obama said is important, the issues addressed affect me and you, and because at the end of the day, and for better or worse, he is our president... at least until 2012.
For my very first State of the Union address (and Obama’s too, imagine that), I allowed myself to get caught up in the rhetoric for which Obama is known. I also thoroughly enjoyed watching the party lines not-so-subtly approve or disapprove of the words coming from the podium. But in an effort to at least partially remove my rose-colored glasses, I read the transcript this morning and realize that, all politics aside, there seems to be a bend towards the people that is rolling in. As with many bureaucratic structures, sight of the individual, the worker, the everyday American is lost in the dollar signs, in the power, in the flexing of whatever muscles any institution has. For the sake of being the government, we have seen merciless effort to save face, both for individual politicians, but also as a nation in the competing global economy, at whatever cost.
But Obama’s incorporation of individual anecdotes in his talk, as well as the policies he wishes to enact reflect a desire to bring our government back to the ideals for which it was originally created, to protect and serve its citizens.
All politics aside, perhaps this shift in focus and ideal is what actually should permeate our government. No more haughtiness. No more self-righteousness. No more pride. Obama said we are no longer accepting the status quo and it is this idea that should nationally nay, internationally, guide our thoughts and actions.
He maybe neglected to address the current state of the union and delivered what seemed like yet another inauguration speech, but the fact remains that the message is important, vital, to the dissolution of the status quo.
I will carefully step down from my very high soap box now and leave you to ponder.
God bless!
For my very first State of the Union address (and Obama’s too, imagine that), I allowed myself to get caught up in the rhetoric for which Obama is known. I also thoroughly enjoyed watching the party lines not-so-subtly approve or disapprove of the words coming from the podium. But in an effort to at least partially remove my rose-colored glasses, I read the transcript this morning and realize that, all politics aside, there seems to be a bend towards the people that is rolling in. As with many bureaucratic structures, sight of the individual, the worker, the everyday American is lost in the dollar signs, in the power, in the flexing of whatever muscles any institution has. For the sake of being the government, we have seen merciless effort to save face, both for individual politicians, but also as a nation in the competing global economy, at whatever cost.
But Obama’s incorporation of individual anecdotes in his talk, as well as the policies he wishes to enact reflect a desire to bring our government back to the ideals for which it was originally created, to protect and serve its citizens.
All politics aside, perhaps this shift in focus and ideal is what actually should permeate our government. No more haughtiness. No more self-righteousness. No more pride. Obama said we are no longer accepting the status quo and it is this idea that should nationally nay, internationally, guide our thoughts and actions.
He maybe neglected to address the current state of the union and delivered what seemed like yet another inauguration speech, but the fact remains that the message is important, vital, to the dissolution of the status quo.
I will carefully step down from my very high soap box now and leave you to ponder.
God bless!
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Eco-friendly AND cost-efficient at St. Francis Inn? Sign me up!
St. Francis Inn Ministries has yet again amazed ourselves (and others) with our latest leap into the world of connectivity with the availability of The Pilgrim, our monthly newsletter, via email!!!
As was posted awhile back (November 18th), the Team signed the Catholic Climate Covenant, committing themselves and our Ministries to become more aware of our consumption and waste and to be better stewards of our God-given resources. Help us to be more eco-friendly and, inadvertently, more cost-efficient, by Clicking Here. All you have to do is give your email address and you, too, can be a part of our effort to be more eco-friendly!
Thank you and we look forward to connecting with you soon!
As was posted awhile back (November 18th), the Team signed the Catholic Climate Covenant, committing themselves and our Ministries to become more aware of our consumption and waste and to be better stewards of our God-given resources. Help us to be more eco-friendly and, inadvertently, more cost-efficient, by Clicking Here. All you have to do is give your email address and you, too, can be a part of our effort to be more eco-friendly!
Thank you and we look forward to connecting with you soon!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
How did THAT happen???
The following can also be found under the News and Events page on www.stfrancisinn.org but I thought it was worth addressing here on this fine blog. Our numbers in the past year were lower than the year prior so I do some reflecting on what that means for us and for our guests. Enjoy!
Each year we compile the numbers of people served and the numbers for 2009 are confounding, if not shocking. In the midst of the greatest recession the country has faced since the Great Depression, we served 9,000 less meals in 2009 (146,000) than we did in 2008 (155,570). The “Great Recession” began in the fall of 2007, but it became more widely acknowledged mid-2008, with increasing coverage of the face of desperation that spread throughout the United States. Over the past year, local and national news have shed light on the countless individuals that have been affected by the economic downturn. You can’t turn on the TV or CNN.com without getting the latest unemployment rate nationwide and which state has the highest rate. You also heard endlessly about the charities that are suffering because their federal funds and private donors are waning as their requests for assistance are increasing.
This, among many other things, makes St. Francis Inn Ministries an anomaly. We’ve always known that our community and our humble ministry in north Philadelphia was unique, set apart, even a bit quirky. But after looking at our numbers, we consider ourselves blessed yet again to be able to serve our guests with the same quantity, quality, dignity and grace as we ever have.
The explanations for our numbers decreasing are vast and there seems to be a bit of truth to each of them. Because we don’t do background checks or means-tests on our guests before we break bread with them, we simply don’t know who has recently been laid off, who is unemployable, and who is just there for human interaction. And as difficult as it may be to swallow, so many of our guests live so far out of mainstream society that a work force facing joblessness and destitution doesn’t even affect them.
So what does this mean for us, for our guests? It means our doors and hearts remain open to those who need it. And it means that we continue to be grateful for all God has done to protect our ministry, those who support it, and those who depend on it.
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