Hunger Awareness Vespers - January 3rd 2013

Hello all - 

Hopefully this finds you well! I just thought I'd quick post my Hunger Awareness Vespers reflection that I gave to the Holden community on the 3rd of January! Each Thursday, we have a simple meal (a bowl of potatoes or rice), and reflect upon the theme of abundance in this broken world when others have so little. Without further ado, here goes! 

Hello everyone. My name is Dean Safe, and I serve in the Village as a Lead Cook. As you may know, one of my favorite meals to make is soup, salad, and bread. I’ve become particularly fond of making potato soup over the course of the fall and winter. For today’s Hunger Awareness reflection, I’m going to lead you through how I make my potato soup.

Imagine this pot here is on the stove back in the kitchen. I begin with melting butter, followed by adding garlic, carrots, onions, and celery, all finely diced up. I let it sit for a bit, until the vegetables get nice and shiny and thoroughly covered with butter. This is step one.

Step two becomes a bit more substantial. I follow with heavy cream, whole milk (or any other milk product), with enough to cover the vegetables. I make sure to give the whole mix a good stir or two, and let sit for a while before continuing on.

Step three is where it gets good. I dice up chunks of potatoes, large enough to be hearty by anyone’s palate’s accord. Throw them into the pot, and then add the vegetable stock. The soup’s almost there, but not without a few more steps.

I don’t think it’s complete without cheese! Add a few handfuls of cheese (or, if you’re making it for a larger winter village, a gallon and a half or two), and stir in. Wait until the cheese coats the back of the spoon and becomes really stringy before moving on.

The last part, and probably the most intimate, in my opinion, is adding the herbs. Choose what you like, but I tend to stick with basil, oregano, salt, white pepper, and a little bit of tarragon. Mix together well, and let sit on the stove, over high heat until boiling, and then reduce to low heat, stirring frequently, for about 2 hours. That’s what I like to do, anyway. I feel it gives more flavor.

You may be asking, what does any of this have to do with Hunger Awareness?

I think that this soup (or any meal, really) is representative of our Village. Every soup consists of many vegetables that have been sliced, diced, chopped, quartered, or torn, meat that has been pan-seared, roasted, or fried, and can include any base – dairy, stock, (least of all, water). As so many individual ingredients go into one soup, this is how I feel of our Village. So many individual people make up this place, and it’s great to see us all come together over this simple meal. Without one person, just as without one ingredient, the Village or a recipe wouldn’t be the same. Something would be lacking, something would be missing.

I’m asking that we use this sense of togetherness, of our Village wholeness, for the better. We have a simple meal every Thursday, but what about when we leave this place and are no longer together as a community? Will we still continue to act on behalf of those who don’t have what they need? Food shelves can always use more food, soup kitchens will be glad for volunteers. Visit farmers markets, invest in a home garden, get dirt underneath your fingernails and be glad and give back. Give back to those who don’t have enough. Let’s use our position of abundance not simply to be able to throw away what we don’t want, but to live according only to what we need and give away – to those who aren’t as fortunate.

Mark writes in his gospel of the feeding of the five thousand that the disciples were tired. A large crowd was following them, and the disciples didn’t want to be bothered. Nevertheless, Jesus instructed them calmly to find out what provisions they had among them, and to feed the crowd with the five loaves of bread and two fish. In the end, they “took up twelve baskets of broken pieces and of the fish”. Jesus and his disciples did some pretty remarkable ministry to the hungry, and I believe we can do the same. I encourage you all – when you’re not feeling particularly inclined to a dinner that we make, or yet another oatmeal breakfast – to remember those who don’t get to eat every day and who, sitting on the streets, would love our simple meal. Praise God for his abundant, abounding provision. Please pray with me.

God of great abundance,

We thank you. We thank you for bowls of oatmeal, for waffles, for cups of coffee, for spanakopita, and for the life we get to have together as Villagers. Shield us here gathered now and provide for those who don’t have a warm meal this night. Watch over all of us with your grace, mercy, and compassion, and lead us to help others as we are called. We pray for and because of your love’s sake,

Amen.

That's all for now - just thought I'd update real quick. And also...with all of the abundant blessings in our lives, where does this leave us? In a position to change the lives of those around us, perhaps. What are you going to do? :) 

God's peace be upon you all, my dear readers. 

From the Village, 

Dean