Notes for the Week Third Sunday of Easter April 26 2020

 Dear friends, 

I’m getting a little tired of vegetable soup.  Even though it’s homemade and, tastes pretty good.  Yet its caloric value and abundance of health benefits are wearing thin.  I made a good vat of it as the COVID-19 tide began to turn us inward to shelter in place.  My instincts for self-preservation, good planning and preparation for shortages was molded by growing up in post WW2 England and rationing books. So, true to my heritage and good training from my mother, when the time came to stock up, I made enough soup to last us for a week of meals, with leftovers to stock in the freezer. Every time I peer in there, hoping to find something different and perhaps a little indulgent, the neatly lined up plastic containers stare back at me, challenging me not to complain and offering me the opportunity to give prayers of thanks. These humble, practical, life-preserving blocks of frozen goodness greet me with echoes of conversations heard throughout my childhood, “Remember Victory gardens?   “Remember when we kept tomato seeds?” which serve to remind me of blessings I have so long taken for granted.  

  I think about all those who have been without food at any time in our history and especially those in our own country and around the world in our own time, who know hunger well, and now are doubly aware that they may not eat today. They are not thinking about shortage of toilet paper, the lack of bread flour or sugar in the stores, they are thinking about what they could possibly ingest to keep alive. I think about those who are frightened by lack of work and no paycheck coming in. I think about how very afraid they must be for their lives and the lives of their families.  And I look at my vegetable soup and find renewed resolve.

 Our little congregation of St. Aidan’s cannot feed everybody, but we can feed some. COVID-19 has shown us the way with the help of the Holy Spirit. Our little bags of food disappear, and we make more.  Our need for fund raising has been made clear as has our way to embrace compassionate giving.  We give thanks for all those whose dedication to feeding the hungry moves beyond mere concern to compassionate. and passionate action. If nothing  else, it adds some sugar to the spice, when little or no sugar can be found.

We do not need to feel guilty if we have our share of food, but we do need to remember those who feel the pinch of hunger today and save a little of whatever we can to share with them.  Let us all remember to stock up on a few extra non-perishables to be placed at the foot of the Cross. We will fill someone’s empty plate, even if it is one person at a time. And let us remember that living is not just about basic needs.  A little extra treat here and there, lifts the soul, even as the canned tuna and the veggie soup strengthens the body. As a child, I remember hearing stories of blessed moments, such as a rare bit of chocolate being carefully sliced up, so that everyone could have a little taste.  Something special in a time of scarcity is memorable, just as were those impossible-to-find staples that my family longed for during the war. People never forget the little joys during hardship.

If COVID-19 has taught me anything, it is to remember those who did their part in the past, and to resolve to be one of those to do my part in the present. Some things never change.  We have plenty of soup in my house today, and I will be sure to find ways to share something similar with those who are without.  Even so, I’m also aware, just as they probably once were, that even though I will do my part and am acutely aware of the blessings in my life, I do still long for a good plate of fish and chips! 

We journey together,

Mother Esme+

“Some give freely, yet grow all the richer;

others withhold what is due, and only suffer want” (Proverbs 11:24)