This is a reflection from Adrienne, whose work for Union includes Communications and these days, helping out with our food ministries.
Last Sunday, the Gospel Lectionary reading was Luke 24:13-35 — the story of the two disciples heading to Emmaus. Their world had just been turned upside-down, much like our own. Though they took time walking and speaking with Jesus, “he had [only!] been made known to them in the breaking of the bread” (v. 35). I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what it means to truly see and know Jesus, broken open in something as common as a shared meal, a source of sustenance. This feels especially poignant in the Church’s current season of fasting from gathering and sharing in the Eucharist together.
In the midst of this pandemic, I see Christ resurrected in the embodied and relational gifts of Union: broken open abundantly for our community. Eastertide or not, it is clear that we care deeply about (yummy & nutritious) food accessibility and the interrelated communal web that we get to practice food justice with.
Though we aren’t able to do our usual 4th Sunday SCCA brunch or provide the chicken fingers and egg rolls at snack time for Compass House’s Café Club kiddos, we are finding ways to play to our strengths and tangibly feed our neighborhood:
People are packing dozens of sack lunches every week that we distribute to LUV & ICS. Others are cooking one or a few extra meals for those in our community and for Compass House by carefully preparing, labeling, and dropping off. Last week, we estimate there were about 80 main meals, with a few desserts and baked goods thrown in!
Other exchanges touch all corners of our web, like our legendary burritos! On Fridays, Theo and I visit the U-District Food Bank to see what produce or prepared foods we can rescue from the hundreds of pounds of excess they have had lately. We have lowered costs and reduced food waste by using lots of veggies for burritos (and soup!), in addition to sending many boxes of great quality fruits, colorful veggies, prepared foods, and bread to Compass House. (I love food waste & reclamation patterns of resurrection!)
After we purchase the remaining burrito supplies, our famed 4th Sunday kitchen crew (Ian, Kelly, & Jeff) cook up the goods and so far, a different group each week shows up — masked, gloved, and far apart — to roll upwards of 175 burritos every Saturday. Theo then delivers these to Compass House, LUV, and ICS later in the week.
Theo also heats up coffee pots and more burritos on Wednesdays for Street Youth Ministries to pick up and distribute…along with snacks, sandwiches, underwear, all types of hygiene products, and a hand-washing station that their ministry delivers twice-weekly to those without shelter in the U-District. We will start delivering burritos to New Horizons starting this week as well.
Theo & Andy at ICS (before masks were recommended)
Like any ecological system, we are enmeshed in a web of relations and mutually affect/are affected by our community partners. In this uncertain and disruptive time, we all have different capacities and for some, they must cook, or shop, or pray, or do nothing. And all of that is good and necessary.
It has been wonderful to experience the way Union has channeled all of its energy, prayers, resources (read: worship in action) with abundance. For me personally, this has been a gift and source of hope to see all the ways our partner relationships — which have taken time, care, and trust to build — are blossoming this spring. We are relying on our network to feed our network. And, we are reclaiming excess food that would otherwise be wasted! As we are broken open by the tangible needs of our community, may we continue to see and know Jesus and the power of his resurrection.
Eco-faith Action Invitation:
Practice food re-distribution by making an extra meal this week for someone…bonus points for using items from your garden!