Trek Day Twenty-Eight

upside-down praying
"The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little." - from II Corinthians 8:8-15

God, please help the poor get rich and the rich get poor so they know what it feels like. And then God, let everyone switch back to medium and let everyone have the same amount of food and money.  Amen   -- Ben, age 7

Oh, for the purity of a child's heart. This closing reflection is going to be brief, because it is enough. I am not blind. Today is Pentecost, when the truth-telling Spirit descends and sends preachers into the streets to mix it up with a diverse and wildly mixed up world. I know I have too much. And I know too many have too little. So what's next?

Questions for Today and All the Tomorrows

Can I experience enough as a gift for the rest of my life?

What have I learned about myself in these 28 days of reflection?

What will I do now with what I read and remembered

?

Trek Day Twenty-seven

a vision for the church
"I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and daughters shall prophecy …" -- from Joel 2:23-29

I am writing this on the same day I am writing my sermon for Pentecost Sunday. The above passage from Joel is assigned by the lectionary every Pentecost. This is the day we celebrate how God poured out the Holy Spirit, creating the Church. And the first thing the Church was asked to do was PREACH.

I am particularly challenged by today's Trek card. Nancy Brubaker writes:

Let us proclaim a vision for people of faith, inspired by the teachings of Jesus...

The vision she then paints is one of Christians the world over ALL living out the claims of the Year of Jubilee in scripture. The redistribution of wealth and land so that all have enough. The voluntary reduction of comfortable incomes so that those who have suffered in poverty are equalized with those who have suffered in affluenza.

Tax collectors come to find out why so many people no longer owe military taxes. Freed from the weight of their former possessions their souls are expanding and their spirits soaring! Compassion, peacemaking and joy are epidemic among them. The Holy Spirit is breaking through even such institutions as racism, class distinctions and patriarchy. Unchurched people are flocking to their fellowships, eager to share in the life of Christ. The creative power of God, the compassion and joy of the Holy Spirit, and the unconditional love of Jesus are pouring out upon people everywhere.

I remember how this vision of the Church captured me heart and soul when I first answered the call to Christian ministry -- when I first said yes to God who called me to be a preacher. I still claim this vision as the truth of the Gospel. Yet, I have found it hard to live it out. The pull of consumer culture is strong, and I feel like Paul, "the spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak."

Questions for Today

How am I nurturing the movement of God's Spirit within me?

How do I gain my understanding of what God wants for the world?

What specific things do I think would immediately become noticeably different if all Christians everywhere willingly chose to live out the practices of the Year of Jubilee?

Trek Day Twenty-six

stuck at the high end of the scale
"You are not under law but under grace." - from Romans 6:5-14

Today Susan Mark Landis expresses my own thoughts:

"I want to work toward a more sustainable lifestyle. It will be painful, and I'll experience some guilt along the way. But if I want to make changes that will last the rest of my life, I need to see hope and possibility, not yet another heavy and unbearable burden."

Susan's words reminded me of the favorite Shaker hymn, "'Tis a Gift to Be Simple." How often I make simplicity a chore to accomplish! I remember visiting the Shaker village which is not so far from the seminary I attended in Kentucky. The clean, simple buildings and furniture felt light and airy. The close ties to the natural world and the avoidance of all pretensions to fashion, wealth and influence …  made me want to stay, to live there. And yet, this intentional community died out long ago. (Their gender-divided dorm living and vows of celibacy probably contributed greatly to that outcome.)

How do I bring the spirit of Shaker simplicity into my real life which is complicated by "necessary" technology (good grief, how many more chargers and cables can we shoehorn into this house?), by my obsession with craft supplies, my sentimental attachment to long forgotten toys which belonged to my children … and on and on and on. Even something as simple as our weekly "Covid-run" to the grocery store tempts me to buy things we do not need. There is a tingle of excitement in picking out a "just because" purchase. I want to experience the lightness and freedom of knowing I have what is essential already, and I can enjoy abundant life without stuff.. At the same time, I want to experience the lightness and freedom that comes with not being racked by guilt after every purchase.

David Schrock-Shenk wrote:

We know we can't shame ourselves out of this way of living … we also know too many poorer brothers and sisters around the world to be able to say, "It's too hard. Why bother?"

I believe the Gospel holds the promise of liberation from our wealth. We need to work together to claim that promise. World of Enough is about finding other people who help us shape a model of enough in our own context. Then we live with enough for 30 days. We discover that it is both possible and fun.

One of my personal assignments (assigned by moi) is to create a fun exercise for the thirty days after completing these 28 days of reflection. The exercise will be my vow to God and commitment to myself to bring more joy with less stuff by making specific changes in my behavior for the month of June. June's thirty days will be my living into these reflections. I hope, along the way, to find others who are as eager as I am to live more with less.

Questions for Today

What are five "free" things I truly enjoy doing?

What are five valuable things I own that I don't need anymore and can rehome?

How could I transfer the wealth of those items above to a person living without enough?

Trek Day Twenty-Five

enough solidarity
"We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish … all ate and were filled." - from Matthew 14:13-21

In today's reflection, Krista-Anne Rigalo recalls her time serving in the capital city Kinshasa, of Democratic Republic of Congo. While she was aware her financial circumstances were far greater than that of those around her, she struggled with not having enough to give in the way she desired. Her volunteer salary of $50 a month left her utterly overwhelmed. She certainly could give a few dollars or a bag of rice, but she found herself repeating aloud and within her own mind, "It's never enough!" She began to wonder why God would bring her to a place where she would witness overwhelming suffering without having the resources needed to respond.

She says, she eventually came to understand how her neighbors there were surviving:

They called it African Solidarity. When you have a little bit, you share. When you're in need, you ask friends and family for help. Everyone gives as they are able, because no one is sure when they will need to ask. ...Now it seems egotistical to think I could or should take on the burdens of the world. I know God brought me here with limited means to participate and suffer with others, as one of many in God's family. I give as I can, and help those in need think how they can share in their turn. If we act together in solidarty with others, there can be enough.

Questions for Today

Do I miss the chance to do what I can because I can't do it all?

Am I reluctant to contribute toward a need my gift cannot completely meet?

What could I do in order to be able to give more to meet the needs of those who do not have enough?

Day Twenty-four

tears of the poor
"Just as you did it to one of the least of these... you did it to me." - from Matthew 25:31-40

From today's Trek card:

The poverty all around us in Vietnam at times convicts us of our relative wealth. It can also become comonplace. Mrs. Ly, a farmer from the rural North, has showed me how insulated from poor people's needs and feelings I can become. On New Year's day, Mrs. Ly and Mrs. Ngoc, a fellow farmer, brought gifts of rice, mung beans and fruit to our office in Hanoi. As we chatted, a beggar stopped at the gate. We remained seated, almost not registering her presence. But Mrs. Ly and Mrs. Ngoc immediately got to their feet, reaching into their pockets for money to give. They, who have so little even compared to the Vietnamese people who cook and clean for us, let along us rich foreigners, were the first and only ones to respond, to give without a second thought. Mrs. Ly had personally experienced some of the hardships this person with the outstretched hands was facing. her response was one of understanding and compassion. As church workers, we seek to be a presence where life is difficult. However, we need people to be present with us as we try to overcome our insulating wealth and privilege to live out Jesus' teachings. We need people like Mrs. Ly to help us connect with poor people whom Jesus calls us to love. No matter how big or small our store of riches, we can give joyfully, freely and in overflowing measure.
-- Betsy Headrick McCrae

Questions for Today

Was there ever a time when I really didn't have enough money?

How did or does this make me eel about people who are wealthier than me?

Do I have a personal relationship with anyone who is struggling to afford the bare necessities of life?

What does my relationship with them add to my understanding of life?

Trek Day Twenty-Three

american meals
"He asked Jesus, 'And who is my neighbor?'" - from Luke 10:25-37

From today's Trek card, by Dave Schrock-Shenk:

My American Airlines flight was packed. Passengers from a canceled United Airlines flight had switched to American at the last minute. The pilot addressed us on the intercom: "We're glad we had enough seats for our friends from United. Unfortunately, we don't have enough meals. When the flight attendants come by, tell them if you're 'American,' in which case you'll get dinner, or 'United,' in which case you'll get  a soda." At first I was relieved. I was an "American passenger." I would get supper. Then I thought about my seatmates. Would I share my food with them if they were "United"?

I was relieved when my seatmates told the attendant they were also "American." But, then I started wondering if the people in the seats right behind me got food, and the people behind them. Should I share my food with them? If I started sharing, where would I stop? I didn't turn around to check. As long as I didn't see them, I was able to eat.

I face the temptation "not to look" at the hungry or homeless people in the world. But I know looking away makes me a bit more calloused, and a bit less human. Gaining an awareness of those with too little -- better yet sharing a meal with them -- makes me more human.

Questions for Today

What do I need to help me respond more faithfully to those in need?

When, if ever, do I come face to face with poor people?

How does that happen?

What values and beliefs are reflected by where I choose to live?

Trek Day Twenty-Two

squeezing the balloon?
"Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that I need." -- from Proverbs 30: 7-9

From today's Trek card:

Viola, a study tour participant from Texas, shared her story with the group that morning. She had worked at a Dockers pants factory in San Antonio until Levi-Straus moved the operation to Central America to get cheaper labor. Since then, Viola had been working with the other laid-off workers to get the benefits Levi-Strauss owed them. Later we left to visit a maquila a factory where Hondurans assemble products for export to the Northern Hemisphere. As we walked into the maquila, tour members were surprised to see a huge Dockers sign at the entrance. During our tour, the plant manager spoke of the benefits the maquila industry brought the hundreds of young men and women bent over their sewing machines, sewing as fast as they could to make their daily quota. During the workers' lunch break, Viola sat in front of a machine identical to the one she had worked on in Texas, remembering the years when she had been happy earning money to support her family. Now, a Central American woman was sitting at her sewing machine, happy to be earning money to support her family. That evening, the group was confused as they processed the day. Viola was struggling to support her family after her layoff. Yet hundreds of Hondurans, while earning wages far below what Viola had earned, were making far more than they had ever earned anywhere else.
-- Daryl Yoder-Bontrager

This week we turn from Enough for Me to Enough for All. We are asked this question: Are we so interconnected with the rest of the world as to be like a balloon that puffs out on one end when it is squeezed on the other?

The financial crisis in the US today is paralleled around the world, as almost every country experiences high unemployment and falling GDP as a result of the global pandemic. Like Viola and the rest of the work team, we may be struggling to process what it all means. Will jobs lost here reappear in other countries? Will some companies completely close and widespread unemployment become the norm?

We are glad that consumption is down and pollution is temporarily slowed. But we are worried that so many families around the world are unsure how they will put food on the table. We are feeling strengthened by the close at hand examples of civic engagement, increased volunteerism, and the outpouring of generosity toward the many Covid-related appeals; yet disheartened by the sometimes selfish and foolhardy behavior of others.

We keep saying, "We're all in this together." As we move forward, we pray for wisdome to see that it will never be enough to settle for "enough for me" without also seeking "enough for all".

Questions for Today

What would need to happen in order to have enough work for both Viola and the woman in Honduras?

Do I know anyone who is out of work today?

Where can I find spiritual resources to navigate the dilemma of all these questions about enough?

Trek Day Twenty-One

take this, it's the best I have
"Mary took a pound of costly perfume ...anointed Jesus' feet and wiped them with her hair." - from John 12:1-8

Kathy Ogle tells about her experiences working with a refugee program in Fort Worth, Texas. One day one of the refugees said to her, "We are grateful for the beautiful things people have given us. But people always say, 'Take this. We don't use it anymore.' It feels like they are giving us their throw-away things. That makes us feel bad. In my country we would say, 'Take this. It's the best that I have.'"

She explained that in our culture people often feel awkward about receiving things from others, so we sometimes try to make it seem like the gift isn't really valuable, like the recipient is doing us a favor in taking it. The more she thought about it, the more it raised questions about how we give what we give. She decided to try giving away her "excess" from an honest experience of 'Take this. It's the best that I have." The next time there was a clothing drive, she gave away one of her best blouses. It was hard. She really liked it! Then she reflected on her time spent in other cultures. A home where the household's only chicken was killed and served to her for a meal. The times when the only or best chair was where she was expected to sit as they all sat on the floor or stood.

It is a challenge to grow as a giver, as we follow the Giver of all life. Remembering how Jesus praised Mary for the costly, freely given gift of love, we are humbled to realize how often we cling tightly to what we could release in love for others.

Questions for Today

When have I most joyfully given to someone in need?

What allowed me to give so joyfully?

Does the idea of reducing my use of things feel freeing or restrictive?

Are there others who are good examples to me of the generous, fulfilled life?

Trek Day Twenty

growing corn
"prosper the work of our hands!" -nfrom Psalm 90:13-17

Dave Schrock-Shenk tells of  a global service-learning tour to a Mexican farm. A North American member of the tour group asked many questions, then calculated the labor costs paid by the Mexican farmer to the local women who were weeding the corn. Then he asked how much he paid to rent the field and maintain the plow. Knowing the local cost of corn, he realized the farmer was paying as much to grow his own corn as he would to just buy the finished product at the market from a larger grower. The tour member asked, "Why do you bother growing it?" The farmer gazed at his beautiful fields and his neighbors working together, then looked back at the visitor, confused. Schenk says,

Although one man spoke Spanish and the other English, it was not language that separated them, but their different views of life. The North American used numbers to evaluate corn as a finished product. The Mexican farmer valued the experience of growing corn for the way it maintained his relationships with people in his village, preserved the way of life handed down to him and allowed him the physical sensation and beauty of working in his cornfield.

Questions for Today

Who grows the food I eat?

How far does my food travel to get to my plate?

Are there ways I can strengthen by relationship with local growers 

who are giving their all to build a more sustainable and just food system in my area?

Trek Day Nineteen

cycle of breath
"God saw everything that God had made, and indeed, it was very good" - from Genesis 1

In today's reflection, Reina C. Neufeldt talks about the experiences of being a cyclist-commuter. Biking to and from work allows some "downtime" of enjoying the trees, birds, flowers and more, while also avoiding the sweaty crush of people on public transportation or the bad-tempered drivers on jammed-up roads. Lately, though, the effects of exhaust from cars and buses has resulted in raspy gasps for air. The choice to wear an air-filter mask was not a hard decision.

"I prefer to keep my lungs, even if I look stupid. The mask is hot and stifling and I can no longer smell the scent of hot grass in the sun, damp earth in the morning or azaleas in full bloom. What a dilemma: to smell the earth or preserve my lungs. We are linked, you and I, by the world we live in and the air we breathe."

Since the Covid 19 pandemic, we have literally seen the effects of our energy use, and the resultant demise of air quality. In Nepal, Mount Everest is now visible from 120 miles away -- the first time in living memory. We have become so accustomed to the terrible air quality in many places, that we are stunned at what a difference the dramatic reduction in CO2 emissions has made in a very short period of time. The same phenomena is evident in virtually every major city around the world -- people are noticing they can see more, smell more, and breathe more easily.

From a public health perspective, there is already some evidence that there is a relationship between air quality prior to infection with Covid-19 and death tolls in cities around the world. The more polluted the air you were breathing before, the more likely the virus will kill you. NYTimes: air pollution and Covid

In authentic gratitude for God's amazing gift of this created world, what lifestyle changes are we willing to make permanent after the wake-up call of this global pandemic? How much is enough stuff? (Those global cities with horrific pollution are the places from which our cheap t-shirts and toys come.) How much is enough travel? (The US uses far more fossil fuels than other nations because we are in love with our cars, especially the gas-guzzling kind.) How many of the miles we have not driven in the last two months did we really not need to drive anyway?

Here is a challenge for self-examination:
Get out a pen and paper and calculate how many miles your household drove in 2019, all vehicles combined. (hint: sometimes your auto insurance provider requires this documentation.) Use each car's average fuel efficiency to figure out how many pounds of carbon dioxide you released into the atmosphere last year. Every gallon of gasoline burned releases 5 and haf pounds of CO2 into the air. This is why higher mpg equals less pollution in the air.

Questions for Today

On what occasions could I lower my fuel consumption by 

ride-sharing, public transportation, walking or biking?

What benefits might I discover in using public transport or walking more?

How might I reduce my emissions by combining my car-use errands into a one day excursion with a well-planned out route?

Trek Day Eighteen

carrying water
"The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it." -- from Psalm 24:1-6

Catherine Mumaw tells the story of eleven-year-old Hari, the boy who pumps her water from an underground well and transports it by the bucketful to a ground-level tank. This water, which is then pumped by electric motor into a roof tank on her home in Nepal, is the source of all the water that sustains her standards. Thanks to Hari, from inside her home she can then access filtered drinking and cooking water, wash her clothes and flush her toilet. Hari is not in school and has limited options on the horizon, but he is a happy boy. He is always glad to see Catherine and grateful to have a job. She reflects on how what she considers so basic -- a human right and necessity -- comes to her at a human cost. And she says she recalls Hari's face every time she turns on the tap, resulting in her using less water than ever before in her life.

In the side bar on the back of this Trek card, we are told:

Most people in North America don't have a Hari to pump their water. 

But the water has to be brought into our homes somehow.

The "Hari" of North America is electricity. Electricity pumps our water, keeps our food cold 

then cooks it and lights our homes. Yet while electricity is relatively cheap, 

there is a high cost to the earth for the immense amount of power we use.

Most people in North America use electricity 

generated by burning fossil fuels -- coal, oil and gas.

These fuels are dirty to produce, 

and they emit carbon dioxide when burned. 

The average Canadian needs almost 6 acres of forestland 

to absorb the CO2 they produce each year. 

The average U.S. citizen needs even more.

Questions for Today

How much water would I use each day if I had to pump or carry it by hand?

Have I invested any of the income available to me in making energy conscious improvements to my household appliances?

Have I invested the time and money needed to lower my resource use of water, heat and air conditioning?

How might I offset some of the impact of my energy use by supporting reforestation or greener land management 

to absorb more of the CO2 I am still responsible for pumping into the atmosphere?

Trek Day Seventeen

in the palace of the poor
"This poor widow has given more than all those who are contributing..." -- from Mark 12:38-44

Today, let's START with the questions:

Questions for Today

What is required to treat someone royally?

What makes someone see your home as a palace not a hovel?

Are there people in my community I would never invite into my home?

Why would I not invite them?  

Return to these questions after reading the story from a global worker named Max Edgar:

Vietnamese celebrate Tet, the lunar new year, by donning new clothing, visiting friends and eating special foods. One year Ba Hein, a refugee in a camp near the town of Quang Ngai, invited us to enjoy a Tet meal with her. We reached her home late in the afternoon. Ba Hein's one-room bamboo and mud house was in the center of the camp. The kitchen was a lean-to in the back. Ba Hein graciously invited us to sit on low stools drawn up to a table. In a corner of her house I saw family photogrpahs, including one of a young man and a small child. She said they were her husband and daughter who had been killed by American artillery in the war. Ba Hein served tea from a pot with a borken spout. The cups were beer cans, scrubbed immaculately clean. As we sipped tea, Ba Hein busied herself preparing and serving the few dishes. She did not apologieze for the meager fare or for the sad state of her home. She served that meal with dignity, confident her hospitality was as valuable as that of the wealthiest homes in Quang Ngai. As we left, I turned to bid Ba Hein farewell. She stood at the door, strong and defiant, smiling confidently. I had been serve a mean as though I were a king, in the palace of the poor.

Trek Day Sixteen

travel lightly on this earth
"Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?" - from Matthew 6:24-33

Years ago a guest from New Zealand who was traveling across the US stayed at my home for a few nights. I was amazed that she had all her belongings for her two month trek in a small backpack. I had traveled internationally only once, and had taken four times as much stuff with me.  How much is enough when you are traveling? 

When packing for a trip, I am often guided by my fears of not having something I might want. So I take lots of options, not knowing for sure what "the perfect choice" will be days later. I don't consider myself a clothes horse, but I definitely have more clothes than I actually need. Clothing gives us a way to project our creativity and originality, as well as keep us comfortable in different kinds of weather.  If I'm honest, it wouldn't be difficult to take much less when I travel, and it would take the stress out of deciding what to wear each day. It would be great to feel less burdened when on the road.

Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? How much extra am I carrying through life that adds to the burdens of my day.

Questions for Today

How do my clothes reflect my personality and my values?

How do the clothes we wear distinguish between the rich and the poor?

Did the people who made my clothes get a fair wage for their work?

What happens to clothes I wear when I am done with them?

Trek Day Fifteen

a walk to digayap

"Better is a handful with quiet than two handfuls with toil, and a chasing after wind." - from Ecclesiastes 4:4-16

Dale Hildebrand recalls today a walk on mountain trails with Philippine Mennonite church leaders. They journeyed to the homes of rice farmers and workers in the village of Digayap. Entering the home of his friends there, he noted that all their belongings would fit neatly in a wheelbarrow: a mat, blankets and pillows for sleeping, two or three changes of clothing each, and a few simple cooking and eating utensils. He said

I have visited many poor families in the Philippines, but this community seemed different. No "grinding poverty" here. Small plots of vegetables and fruit trees surround their house. Children appear healthy...after a supper of rice and sardines, I ask ... if they are happy with their lives. Except for the long distance they must travel to schools and hospitals, they say, they feel content.

Dale asks us to reflect on our aspirations to lift people across the globe to the level of consumption we practice -- to allow poor people to catch up with the rich. 

But ecologists tell us that we would need five to seven more earth-sized planets to provide the resources and absorb the waste if everyone lived like the average North American and European. Instead of solving poverty by givign people slices of a bigger pie, we may need to change how we slice the pie we have.

Might we live more contentedly with a much smaller slice of Earth's bounty?

Questions for Today

How do those who live contentedly with far less do it? What's the secret?

What are my criteria for distinguishing between needs and wants?

Have I ever truly experienced the freedom and joy of contentment with what I have? For how long?

Trek Day Fourteen

rising higher than its source
"We are ... as having nothing, and yet possess evrything." - from 2 Corinthians 6:1-10

Dave Schrock-Shenk begins his reflection for today recalling conversations with a friend who had spent significant time in voluntary service overseas following seminary. They shared memories of getting by with very limited financial resources and an absolute minimum of possessions. The friend recalled, "our years in voluntary service and then at the seminary were the best years of our lives ... at seminary none of the students had money. We scraped by on odd jobs... We didn't have nearly as many things...But we and our children remember those as the best years of our lives."

Dave was puzzled by the friend's response when asked if she would venture into an experiment to return to those days of living on much less. With intensity she replied, "I wouldn't even consider 'trying enough' now," she declared. "The years after we came home were the most painful years of our lives. Our friends and people at church were building large houses, driving new cars, and going on exotic vacations. There was no support for our desire to live simply. We ended up feeling out of it, like oddballs. I will never go through that again."

Questions for Today

Do my closest friends nurture my deepest commitments?

Are my spending and accumulating practices the result of pressure to keep up?

What messages about material goods do I get from my church or faith community?

Trek Day Thirteen

priceless gifts
"If I give away all my possessions...but do not have love, I gain nothing." - from 1 Corinthians 13

Doris Daley shares a reflection today about her life working in the gift-giving business. While grateful for the positive impulse we have to give to others, she is saddened by how often it is an exercise in social obligation, devoid of joy. Too often she has selected the gift for the giver, who has no interest in or idea of the recipient's needs or desires. "Here you go, how about these candlesticks? They're$40." She wishes we could think more creatively about how to express care for others:

Over the years I have received gifts that had little or no monetary value, but meant more to me than a truckload of $40 candlesticks. An unexpected phone call from a friend concerned about my health. A recipe and a note saying, "As soon as I tasted these cookies I thought of you." 

Gifts of life and love from my own grandmother, who drove 50 miles for piano concerts, baked butter tarts by the hundreds for every special occasion and leaves messages on my machine to welcome me home from business trips.

There are so many priceless gifts which cost us nothing financially but can mean everything to the recipient. I am reminded to choose thoughtfully the ways I can perform unexpected acts of kindness even in these challenging times. Even from behind a mask, I can express gratitude to a cashier, wave hello on my walk, or come prepared to every errand with the safety of those I will run into foremost on my mind. Even from inside my home, I can make a phone call to someone who may be feeling isolated, send a card to a grandchild, or reach out to my siblings across the country. Weeks ago, my sister who lives in the state of Washington sent us packets of yeast along with her instructions for making sourdough starter, because she knew we were wanting to bake more and couldn't secure the supplies. Yesterday I opened a card from her with Columbine seeds collected from her garden last year enclosed. 

Doris ends her reflection

I resolve to do one unexpected act of kindness today. In the world of enough I dare to dream of, there, is enough food and shelter to go around; there is also enough kindness, joy, hospitality and nurturing to go around. That is somethign I can start to make happen now.

Questions for Today

What non-material gifts can I give to others throughout the year, either on "gift-giving occasions" or "just because"?

What would I like to be able to give to someone that isn't a "thing"?

What gifts of kindness do I most appreciate when extended to me?

Trek Day Twelve

noticing our impact
"Let the floods clap their hands, let the hills sing together for joy at the presence of the Lord." - from Psalm 98

The beautiful mountains of eastern Kentucky, rich in biodiversity and once crystal clear waters

In today's reflection, Liz McGeachy talks about the hard rains that pour over the mountains in eastern Kentucky where she lives. After the muddy rushing water subsides, it isn't just the evidence of soil erosion or the uprooted plants which glaringly mar the landscape. It's the trash. Endless plastic soda bottles, trash bags, milk jugs, tires, and forgotten appliances.

...it hasn't always been like this. In the region's preserved areas the water runs cold and clear over polished stone and the moss is thick and green under pines lining the banks. Areas like that used to cover eastern Kentucky -- before accumulation of cheap, disposable items became a daily part of our lives. 

Remembering an art teacher from a sculpture class she once took, she recalls sage advice:

Don't forget your sculpture may survive in this world longer than you do. 

Ask yourself what kind of impact your creation will have.

If the life I am living and the evidence of it I leave behind were an art project, what would it reveal about me and my priorities? Knowing that there is no such thing as "away," if all the trash I've ever created came back to my yard to roost, who am I, as evidenced by what I've done with my life as a consumer? By what I will leave behind, long after I am gone?

This reflection challenges us to confess the greed of our culture and the disregard for other lives, present and future, which are impacted by our insatiable consumerism:

Plastic-free local produce from Sola Gratia Farm

In today's global economy, almost all of us consume items brought to us from around the world. Our garbage, including the exhaust from our cars and factories, is spread around the world.  We cannot see the cost of our consumer items by looking out our front window. We must learn to see with new eyes if we are to "notice our impact."

Looking at this picture from the other direction, we could be evaluating our impact for the good. What trees am I planting, what soils am I improving, what waterways am I protecting, what alternatives to the destructive path we have been on am I helping to put into place? 

This image of my life as a sculpture that will outlast me will stay with me. What is it that I plan to do with my own wild and precious life?  (Mary Oliver)

Questions for Today

What needs to happen to preserve the beautiful natural places I love for future generations?

How could I shop differently to reduce the negative effects my life is having on the planet?

How might I improve life for others by choosing now to switch as much as possible to locally produced food and other items?

Why is everything wrapped in plastic and how can I stop it?

Trek Day Eleven

revenge of the gadgets
"Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." -- from Matthew 6:19-21

In today's Trek card, Jon Rudy confesses to being a typical male gadgeteer. He names computer and printer hardware he covets, a quality camera, the latest software, and other electronic gadgets. He says:

...the list goes on. I have had a buying moratorium on gadgets for the last three years while in Swaziland and now, on home leave, there was time to make up. So, armed with a credit card and three-years worth of gadget savings, I struck out on the 800-number trail. Soon the delivery person was beating a path to our door. Box after box, invoice upon invoice came piling in. What fun! Like Christmas. Like Christmas ... too much like Christmas. North American Christmases are notorious for their emphasis on material things -- gadgets.

I don't share Jon's enthusiasm for techie gadgets (although, since March 15th, I've been thrown in the deep-end of the tech-pool and sometimes wish I had a few better things). Still, I certainly understand the longing, justification, ordering, unwrapping, and regretting cycle that often results when one of my own passions are stirred. (Gardening, sewing, reading, crafting, home decorating) And whether I "love" them or not, I've bought more than my share of tech-gadgets that are obsolete within a year or two after purchase.

Today's card talks about the "first set of things" which we need to sustain our lives and the "second and third sets of things" that weigh us down and sap our energy. I spoke yesterday about how the abundance of things on my countertops often saps my energy. To feel really weighed down, all I have to do is open a closet.

Another insightful quote, this time from Victor Lebow, retail analyst:

Our enormously productive economy … demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption ... 

We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced, and discarded at an ever increasing rate.

I find myself wondering how much of the stuff Jon bought twenty years ago, when he was home on leave from global service, is still taking up space in a landfill somewhere on the globe. And leaking toxins. How many of my own "Christmas-like" purchases are doing the same?

Those who know me, know I regularly mount a soapbox about waste. Plastic waste, food waste, yada, yada, yada. So my eyes were riveted to the title of the book which quoted Lebow above: The Waste Makers. I was stunned to read that the book's copyright was 1960, a year before I was born. 

Maya Angelou is often quoted as saying, "Do the best that you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better." Shouldn't we be doing better by now?

Questions for Today

What are my triggers for consumer behavior I wish I could change?

How could I simplify my lifestyle in ways that would enrich my daily experiences?

How much of what I buy in a given year ends up in a trash heap like the one above?

In what ways does the marketing and packaging of stuff I buy lead to planetary harm?

Trek Day Ten

joy is not in things, it is in us

"Why do you spend your money on that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?" - from Isiah 55:1-5

Stuff. Ugh. 

When I get ready to clean my house, I realize that of all the tasks there are to do: washing dishes, wiping down countertops, washing windows, mopping floors, cleaning sinks and toilets, ironing … the only task I really dread is figuring out what to do with all the stuff that makes it hard to keep the house clean. Sitting right now at my kitchen island, a quick scan tells me there are more than 50 things sitting on the countertops. And that's if I count a crock holding 20 kitchen utensils as just one item. 

I just cleaned in here!   At our house we call it the curse of horizontal surfaces.

I wonder sometimes how this became normalized. I wonder if you also feel tension between a compulsion to keep buying things, and a gut level aversion to doing so. I do well for a while in not buying stuff for myself, but then feel guilty if I don't buy stuff for someone else (who is also struggling with affluenza). Yet I wonder if the gifts I buy feel like the burden of more stuff to the recipient?

I also struggle with what to do with the thoughtful (but unneeded) things that come into our home regularly as gestures of kindness. How long do I hold on to something that I don't need, just because it feels wrong to not keep a gift?  Ugh. Stuff!

When it comes to gift-giving, at our house we have been trying to move our  expectations from things to experiences. Rather than buying a child yet another toy, why not a shared outing tailored to that child's interests? Of course, in the age of coronavirus, that is now much more difficult. Ugh.

I am left today with many questions.

  

Questions for Today

Do I give the people who love me what they most want from me?

Am I able to spend the time I need to build special relationships with the people I love?

Are things sometimes a substitute for "being there" with the ones I love?

Trek Day Nine

give us this day
"Has not God chosen the poor in the world...to be heirs of the Kingdom?" - from James 2:1-7

A thought from today's Trek card:

Life has a material base. The "first set" of things we need to survive -- food, clothing and shelter -- are absolutely essential. In Matthew 6, Jesus told his disciples God knows we need these things, that we can pray to God for these things, and that God will provide them for us.

In the Lord's Prayer, we ask for daily bread. And for most of us, we know without a doubt that we shall have it. For others in the world, this is not the case.

The average annual household income in Nigeria, Syria, India, Bangladesh, Kenya, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Afghanistan and dozens of other countries is less than $2,000. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, under $500. I can only imagine how often people pray for daily bread from a place of real need. By contrast,the average household income in the US last year was approximately $90,000. Given the great wealth of our nation, why are so many of us still stressed about money? Why do we worry so much about what we will eat, what we will drink, and what we will wear?

Even in the US, the distribution of wealth is so dramatically uneven that the income of the top 1% of households was more than $475,000 last year, while half of US citizens made roughly one tenth of that. The bottom 20% of households, about $22,000. With such wild disparity in the distribution of wealth, we struggle to define terms like poor, rich, and economically secure. How much is enough?

Questions for Today

How often do I worry about what I will eat, drink or wear?

How often do I worry about bills not related to these essentials?

How might I change my perspective on my finances by focusing on my experiences of provision and abundance rather than wants?

Trek Day Eight

the terror of sufficiency
"I do not understand my own action. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." - from Romans 7:14-25

Many of us have had opportunity to travel, sometimes to areas of the world which do not enjoy the material prosperity we take for granted. About twenty years ago, I traveled  with a small work team to Honduras, to assist a rural community in rebuilding their village. During Hurricane Mitch, their entire village literally slid down the mountainside in a devastating chain of mudslides. Many in the village lost family members who were buried in the mud. Those who survived were relocated to another similarly scalped mountaintop to rebuild. Thankfully, some attention was given this time to the erosion effects of a poorly managed agricultural program which had exacerbated the natural disaster. The government had encouraged the poor to move atop forested mountains and clear them for coffee production. When the heavy rains came, lack of native vegetation to secure fragile soils led to incalculable loss.

During the week we spent in the village of Nuevo Porvenir (the village which had been destroyed was Porvenir, which means future in Spanish) I found my emotions yanked in every direction. Immense sadness welled up in me as I heard the stories of mothers and fathers, children, sisters and brothers who had been buried alive in mud. I felt anger over the mismanagement of the government's land use project. Admiration for our Honduran partners working with the poorest of the poor. Gratitude for the completion a week earlier of a project bringing fresh water and sanitary toilets where there had been none. Humility in the face of my completely inadequate preparation to spend time in a country where I could not speak the language. Mirth at the absurdity of hens and a rooster walking over our sleeping bags and the times each member of our team had to shoo scorpions off of rocks we were carrying, or out of boots we were about to put on. Strangely, I also felt envy.

Each morning the poultry brigade roused us before first light. As I headed out to the newly constructed wooden outhouses (many in the village had never known such luxury) I would watch the village coming to life below. At that hour, it was a woman's world. Sisters emerged from their tarp covered hammocks to gather in groups around small cook fires. Water was hauled by little girls from the stretch of PVC pipe which miraculously brought water to the middle of the village. Dented pots boiled as some began the day's laundry and others formed corn tortillas in loving hands, as all families awakened together. Gentle waves of laughter and conversation, rising up to our open-air sleeping quarters,  made my soul ache. In the midst of unfathomable poverty and grief, these women were present to the dawn, knit closely to neighbor and family. And I was jealous.

After a sunrise breakfast, we worked side by side with a Columbian construction team hired by the non-profit which had invited us into their work. During siesta, the children would gather up at the school ground where we slept (the only completed building in the entire village). They were openly curious and eager to play with us. A Honduran health worker whose sleeping bag was a few feet down from mine generously translated for me and answered my many questions. When I commented on the "sun kissed streaks" in the children's dark hair, she gently explained that it was a symptom of extreme malnutrition. She was working with the women of the village to harvest and incorporate into tortillas nutrient rich native plants growing wild in the area. When available, she was bringing multi-vitamins to the village to supplement the very poor subsistence diet. The village men came home exhausted in the late afternoon, after walking miles daily to their newly planted coffee plots. At night, we worshiped with, attended community meetings with, and shared conversation with (as best we could) our new friends.

Tears would surprise me as we sang together, and as I listened to testimony from our hosts about the choices required to build intentional community. They were literally building an entire village one row of cinder blocks at a time. None of the dozens of families would raise up another row of blocks on their own home until the whole village reached the same level of courses. So every family was still sleeping under Red-Cross provided tarps from over a year ago, which protected their pole-strung hammocks from the rain. I was invited under the shelter of one such tarp after worship, carrying a child who had fallen asleep in my arms. The only possessions the family of eight had were one plastic lawn chair and a reused jar containing oil and a wick which provided meager light. Nuevo Porvenir was still rebuilding in the second year after the disaster, and this was how far they had come.

On the flight back to Michigan I made vows to God about how my experience in Nuevo Porvenir would reshape my life. I am embarrassed to admit how little actually changed. Once back in the world I knew, I was quickly swept away by the expectations and standards of my own culture. To live more simply so that I had more to share with others struggling to simply live, shrunk in importance. After all, there were new soccer cleats to buy for the kids, new pillows for our beds, and so forth. The lines blurred once more between wants and needs.
In today's Trek card, I am reminded that "the ecological footprint of most North Americans needs to shrink by two-thirds to reach the global average." The sizes of our homes, the great drain we make on global energy resources, the global impact of our every day transportation costs, not to mention our insatiable appetites for more "things" (including an endless supply of coffee) consume not only our financial resources but our understanding of what life is all about.

From today's reflection:

Our interaction with material things can give them a "life of their own." 

Understanding that relationship can be critical to finding our deepest joy and meaning in life.

I am glad to be making this trek into the world of enough again today. It has raised many questions about how I might still fulfill the vows I made then to reorder my life into better alignment with the values of the Reign of God.

Questions for Today

What do I own that is not necessary for the activities I find most meaningful?

What might I do with that stuff if I chose to reduce the number of my possessions?

How much of my income goes to sustain a lifestyle which is more costly than needed?

What would I do with my free time if I only had to spend half as much time working for money?

How might I prioritize the wealth of community and family relationships over the accumulation of possessions?