Let's grow things in the city this year!

This year I am planning on planting and growing some plants in our backyard on Reedland Street. Maybe, there will be some on the porch. This is the first time I will be planting a garden on my own (and maybe with some help from my housemates). Here's a little list of some of the plant life to expect:

- calendula (a gift from a friend)
- swiss chard
- tomatoes (of course!)
- lavender (for sweet smells and tea and maybe homemade ice cream)
- pinto beans (for fun-zies)
- a plant that can repel mosquitoes (whatever that turns out to be)
- sweet pea
- sunflowers

It's still considered winter here, so, I am beginning growing things inside our home.

Growing things is really important to me. Plant life and nature are very important to me because it is beautiful and offers so much. It is where I find rest. It is something in which communicates to me the tender and caring voice of the Father who created and loves the universe and you and me and the people and animals we can't see, because they might live far away. I am moved by how so much of Scripture paints stories and ideas with images from nature and agriculture, including the parables of Jesus.

Because... I love chickens. And I don't own this photo.

I was particularly encouraged this weekend being able to hear from a group at the Justice Conference about care for the creation. They were pitched right next to our Mission Year booth for about half the conference. They are called A Rocha, and one of the international representatives of this group, Peter Harris,  shared about why Christians should care about the environment  It seems like often, Christians can be the last people to care about the environment especially us in the United States.

CALENDULA. It's edible. And medicinal. And, I don't own this photo.

However, we should be encouraged to care about the earth, we should be among a group of people who care the most, because G-d made it all and saw that it was good, even before human beings came into the scene. We were given the mandate to look over the Creation, because it is good and it shows that G-d is good. And so, I want to look over G-d's creation, because I love Him, I love the One revealed through Jesus, and the world that He made. G-d provides so much nourishment of mind and body through his creation. Maybe, we have a hard time seeing that in the United States, because our American life style has an indirect relationship with the earth as opposed to those groups of people who depend on the rivers, the animals, the plants; they see and interact with it all directly everyday. Maybe with the abundance of shopping malls and factories, we forget that that which we have has come from the good earth G-d has made.

As one person, there isn't much I can do by myself. I can't ignore, but, at the same time, I cannot save the planet. But, I can change things, little by little. I am burdened by the large amounts of trash that litter our parks and streets in Southwest Philly, including our little block on Reedland Street. I am burdened by the fact that it's easier to find junk food than a fresh, bright plump tomato in the city. I am burdened by how uncommon flowers are found.

A container garden in urban Mexico. I don't own this picture.

I want to plant things to bring a little light to my life. And maybe, it can be a little light to that of my neighbors, too. Maybe, planting and growing can be something we can do and enjoy together. As more and more people in the world move into the cities, I want to be able to live a life that is sustainable and nourishing to my neighbors. I want cities where less kids have asthma, and there's more tended to parks to play in. These are some of my dreams and I will let them be so.

Peace to you,
Rachel

Oh Beloved Community! (Some current thoughts on being part of a community of people)

I’ve been reflecting a lot about community and what the role of community is in my life.

I think I’m meant to be at Esperanza because of the community here. I know that honestly, when I came here, I didn’t think much of Esperanza’s claim on being a family; I could only focus on the jadedness I felt in all my memories of being part of Church communities, and hearing all of the horror stories. I would listen to the gossip and crazy jokes that are bound to happen in an office environment, and thought it as an affirmation of my cynicism -- that the community at Esperanza was just like everywhere else.

Of course, after being both a patient and volunteer here, my heart, has once again melted, as G-d so inevitably does if I find myself willing to conform to the call to love that he’s given each of us human beings.

This isn’t the first time that I’ve come into church communities with such jadedness. 

As much as I hate that I do this, I suppose that the beauty of coming in with low expectations is that you become pleasantly surprised. You become amazed really at how capable and beautiful we are.
Because there are people at Esperanza that have really truly come alive.

I see it in the lunch rooms when someone shares their story and their true heart with others and their hopes for Kensington.

I see it in the humble and ungrumbling behind-the-scene service of my co-workers who don‘t do “the glamours work“ of working with patients.

I see it the beaming and sunshine-like smiles of my supervisor, and I feel it in her hugs.

I hear it in affirming and truthful encouragements spilling out of the beautiful bilingual tongues here.

None of them are perfect. Trust me. None of them are.
And the reality is this, too: I’m not either.
None of us are. Squat.
Who am I to square in on the weaknesses of others, when I myself have every insecurity brimming in my soul and pouring out in the life-crushing actions I sometimes become slave to?

If we focus on the ugly, and remain in seeing in the ugly, all we will receive is the ugly, because that is all that we will perceive and see.

One of the beautiful things about grace is that it gives us the freedom to be honest with ourselves without condemnation. We can be honest about the fact that, we aren’t always what we need to be. In our hearts, each of us still wrestle with our feelings of unworthiness.

Grace gives me the courage to admit to myself that sometimes, I don’t treat or think well of my brothers and sisters, that often, I’m afraid of them and it‘s because of my insecurity. And Grace gives me the courage to move on. Grace gives me the ability to start again, to hope and to begin moving towards trust and love, a love that believes the best in others.

I truly think that community is important, because it is the place where we can confront our brokenness and begin to grow towards wholeness. Community is the place where G-d’s consuming and purifying fire can do it's work. I think that the body of Christ is to be a witness of true community for the world: a community that cares, that calls us to love others, ourselves and to seek G-d. A place where forgiveness happens.  A place where we can become whole. And so community is for the building up and loving of each human being. We are for each other, but, we are for the world, too.

I want to make a pact with myself, and this is the promise: that I will be an advocate for the Church. I want to fight for her. I want to fight for all communities, but especially the Church, this community that is supposed to be the witness of Christ’s love in the world. I want to make sure that I do what I can do to encourage communities, to be united in compassion and care for each other.

Who is part of your community?

Your community might be your family. It might be your  friends. It might be the co-workers that carry you through, or the woman at the Laundromat that you have heart to hearts with each week and lifts your soul.
Find your community.
And if you don’t have one. Start making one.
Reach out. I’m still trying to reach out. Reaching out can be the hard part, because it’s acknowledging that you need others.

I was reminded recently -- and will probably be again in the near future -- that it’s okay to need others. I get so freaked out at the idea of asking for help, that “I’ll start digging holes” to hide in and get stuck in. And I‘ll dig deeper and deeper until I can no longer stand the darkness and I panic. I’m reminded constantly that it’s okay to have needs, because the reality is, that we are all poor.

And so, it’s okay to need help. We need others. We need community. A single person isn’t going to complete us because none of us are perfect. But the good news is, each of us have strengths according the grace and goodness we have found in our lives, and so all have the ability to bless others and a place in community.

So go find your community. Find where you can give. And find where you can receive. Find where you can grow, love and be loved.

Who is part of your community?