Yesterday we held our fortnightly MSA team meeting. There is so much happening at the moment as we get ready for the Celtic retreat August 7-9th and work toward a clear idea of what God is saying to us as regards the land on Camano Island. We are also in the midst of producing our first CD of liturgies and songs from last year’s retreat, are planning new MSA publications and getting ready for retreats and workshops in September through October.
As well as that we are bringing together a focus group of those interested in alternative housing to creatively brainstorm how to make tiny houses a viable option for more people. The plan is to incubate new affordable tiny house designs based on this discussion and construct a demo model tiny from one of these designs. This will create a focus for future discussions on lifestyle, housing and community.
Life is very busy and as I prayed and reflect on this morning the prayer above formed in my mind. Writing it and then reciting it throughout the day has helped instill a deep peace within me.
It is inspired by this Celtic prayer written by Fiona MacLeod at the end of the 19th century which is one of my favourites.
Many of you know that my husband Tom and I live in a small intentional community in Seattle which we call the Mustard Seed House. We are currently in transition. The Mustard Seed House is making a new beginning and we are looking for one couple or single who are looking for community to join us!
Forrest Inslee and his daughter Kayra will move into our top floor apartment this summer. Tom and I live on the middle floor. We have a one bedroom apartment downstairs.
We are looking for a couple or a single that are interested in a community living opportunity.
- we share one meal together once a week,
- we garden together once a month,
- we enjoy produce from our garden every day and
- we offer hospitality to friends from near and far all the time.
There are also opportunities for mentoring with Tom and me and to be involved in the ministry of Mustard Seed Associates.
You don’t have to live in the Mustard Seed House to be part of the MSA community however. Our monthly garden days are open to anyone in the area who is interested. We also have opportunities for internships and are looking for volunteers to assist with the Celtic retreat and with other projects.
We are also looking for help with a new CD Brigit and the Hospitality of God that we are putting together from liturgies and songs that were a part of last year’s Celtic retreat. This is an exciting new project.
June 20th we will gather a group in Seattle to do responsive readings for the CD. If you are interested in being a part of this let me know.
Check out the Mustard Seed Associates web site to learn more about us and what I do when I am not blogging. Contact us if you have any questions or you would like to see the downstairs apartment. Please shoot me an email if you are interested.
I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last. (John 15:16)
These words that Jesus spoke to his disciples really caught my attention the other day. It is strawberry season here in Seattle. Tom and I are relishing the fresh berries I pick each day from the garden. And I have to pick them each day because strawberries only last a few days. They are meant to be savoured and enjoyed in the brief few weeks of the season. Yet we want them to last. Not only do they taste good, but they are nutritional powerhouses containing not only high levels of vitamin C but also the mighty antioxidants anthocyanins, ellagic acid, quercetin and kaempferol, which all have been shown to have protective effects against certain types of cancer.1
What does “fruit that will last” really mean? It occurred to me as I picked my strawberries that they may only have a short life span but they last as long as God intends them to. They last until the next berries – usually the blueberries – are ready for harvest. They give us that spring boost of energy our bodies need, at the time that we need it. Yes we can dry them, freeze them or make preserves which maintain a goodly portion of the nutrients, but they never taste as good or provide as much nutrition as when they are in season.
What is your response?
Visit your local farmers’ market and buy yourself a basket of whatever fruit is in season. Sit and contemplate the basket of fruit. Smell it. Handle it. Eat it slowly, relishing the sweet, fresh flavour of it. From a spiritual perspective what do you think it means to bear fruit that will last? How long do you think your fruit is meant to last – a week, a month, a year? Are you like a strawberry, providing an intense but short lived seasonal burst of flavour, or are you more like an apple, able to be stored naturally without chemicals for several months?
Harvesting apples
Strawberries herald the beginning of the season with lots of other berries and perishable fruit. We don’t need them to be stored for long periods of time, unlike apples and pears which are harvested in the autumn, at the end of the harvest season. They can be stored as food for the long months of winter. Historically, fruit that could be stored would hopefully last throughout the hungry seasons of winter and early spring when no new fruit was produced.
In a world that picks green and sprays with chemicals to extend the shelf life of everything from strawberries to apples, the significance of fruit that will last is often lost on us. So much of the “fresh” produce in our supermarkets, is not fresh at all. It lasts far beyond its intended life because of the artificial chemicals that have been added. Some of it is injected with sugar and even vitamins to make it taste more “natural”.
I wonder how often we do the same thing with our spiritual fruit. We think that “fruit that will last” means it will go on for ever and so we do all we can to artificially preserve it beyond its natural season.
What is your response?
Now visit your local supermarket and buy a basket of fruit that is not in season. Sit and contemplate your basket of fruit. Handle it, smell it, and eat it slowly. Does it taste the same as you remember it tasting when it was in season?
Sit quietly in the presence of God and think about your spiritual life. What fruit have you borne that you have tried to preserve beyond its natural God ordained season? Is there fruit that has become tasteless and nutritionless because it is out of God’s season for it? What is God asking you to do with this fruit?
Listen to the song below, but instead of “breathe new life in me” substitute: “Breathe new fruit in me”
How are you planning to celebrate Pentecost his year? I mentioned yesterday that one of my concerns about this celebration is that often everything happens inside the church. As the Holy Spirit fell on the disciples, the barriers of language and culture were broken down – not so that everyone thought and looked the same, but so that everyone understood each other in their own language and culture. In God’s new kingdom culture, we don’t become an amorphous lump of homogeneity, but learn to appreciate and respect our differences.
My own understanding of this has been greatly enriched as I have listened to sisters and brothers from other cultures. I was particularly impacted by theologian Tite Tienou from Burkina Faso whom I heard speak several years ago. “All of us are on a journey wanting to understand who our brothers and sisters from other parts of the world are,” he said. He then reminded us that we are all part of the same family – God’s family – and like any family we are called to share life together as sisters and brothers. Learning to share life with people from all over the world means listening to their viewpoints, hearing their struggles and sharing their joys. And learning to share life in this way means walking together on a journey towards a deeper understanding of God’s truth and a stronger commitment to God’s kingdom ways.
Once again I have found it challenging to find out of the box creative ideas, but here are a few I have come across that might stir your imagination:
Tongues of Fire Chili Cookoff.
Faith Episcopal Church used to celebrate, after the liturgy with an annual “tongues of fire” chili cookoff. It turned into a community-wide event, with prizes based on spice level and the like. Recipes were posted on the church website. While it was not part of the liturgy itself, it was a creative way to use symbols in the life of the community–and it can’t help but transform a simple meal into a teachable moment. Unfortunately, COVID put an end to the celebration. Hopefully one day it will be celebrated again.
The Biggest Birthday Party Yet
Over recent years, churches in London have hosted community events that help to relay something of the ‘Good News’ message with people who may have no faith. They believe that Pentecost is an opportunity for the diverse range of churches in London to speak collaboratively into culture through art, music, fashion, film and dance. These community events are ‘birthday parties’ that welcome one and all.
In the last couple of years Share Jesus International co-ordinated what is becoming the biggest birthday party yet. It encourages us to celebrates the church’s birthday and highlight its heritage, diversity and positive contributions to society. Organizes also challenges churches to reach out to their communities through this event and provide creative opportunities for people outside the church to explore the Christian message.
Community Potluck
You might like to bring together people you know (or even those you don’t know) from as many cultural backgrounds as possible for an intercultural potluck celebration. Get each person to bring food and music from their culture to share and if possible to dress in traditional garb. If you don’t know people from other cultures then get everyone to bring food and music from a culture other than their own that they are familiar with.
Start the evening with a time of storytelling. Get each person to share a story about how their faith has grown through the experiences and witness of people from other cultures. Then talk about the different cultures represented in your gathering. Get each person to share which aspects of their culture they believe bear the fingerprints of God and reflect God’s kingdom culture.
Pentecost Kites
I love the idea of Pentecost kites that the Diocese of Westminster, north of London created. Pentecost Kites is a fun activity that involves first making, then decorating and finally flying kites and using the kites as a metaphor for the spirit at Pentecost. I have not tried it yet, but it looks like a lot of fun.
What are your creative ideas?
–Photo from Ministry Matters—
Pentecost is almost with us. Sunday we will be at church decked out in our best red outfits ready to celebrating the coming of the Spirit – described in scripture in so many wonderful terms – Spirit of truth, advocate, comforter, sustainer, and closely linked with the coming of peace and the outpouring of love. For many the Spirit is the feminine side of God. For others it is the equipper, and strengthener, the eternal abiding presence of God.
More than anything, for me, the Spirit is the equipper for service, the One who sends us out into the world to be God’s representatives of love and peace, of justice and reconciliation. It bothers me that so much of our celebration is confined to inside the church. This is a celebration that should be taken out into the world which is what I have tried to reflect in this prayer.
Here is another recipe that I make frequently at this season when there are more peas and bok choy in the garden than we can possibly eat is this adaptation of Phad Thai. I made this a couple of days ago for our good friends, Paul and Liz Sparks – their enthusiasm for the recipe inspired me to post it here.
I love to experiment – not just with spiritual practices but also with recipes. Just as there is no failure in the garden, there is no failure in the kitchen either, just learning experiences. Have some fun, experiment for yourself, create new recipes adopted to your tastes and to what your garden produces.
INGREDIENTS:
– 3 tablespoons Thai Sweet Chili sauce
– 1/2 cup Soy sauce
– 1./2 cup old fashioned peanut butter
– 1 package flat rice noodles , (1 lb package)
– 1/8 cup sesame or peanut oil
– 1 medium onion
– 1/2 cup bean sprouts
– 2 cloves garlic
– 1 pound bok choy
– 1 pound tofu
– 1/2 pound snow peas
– 1/2 pound broccoli florets
– 1 medium red bell (capsicum) peppers, chopped
– 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
– 1 cup peanuts or cashews
– 6 green onion
– 1 cup Shitake Mushrooms, optional
METHOD:
1. For Sauce: Combine chili sauce, soy sauce, apple cider and peanut butter. Stir until uniform and set aside
2. Noodles: Put noodles in a large pot of boiling water. Turn off heat and soak for 5 minutes. Remove from the pan, drain, rinse in cold water until cool. Cut with scissors several times to create smaller pieces.
3. Vegetables: Heat oil add onions, garlic, and bell pepper. Stir fry for about 5 minutes. Add greens, mushrooms and snow peas, stir fry 2 minutes, add tofu and stir fry an additional 2 minutes.
4. Add noodles and peanut butter mixture to the vegetables. Stir for 2 minutes.
5. Garnishes: Serve with bean sprouts, green onions, and nuts as garnishes. For those that like it hot have more sweet chili sauce and hot chili flakes available.
SERVINGS: 10
SOURCE: Christine Sine
I thought I would take a light break from all the serious stuff I have been posting and turn to a couple of new recipes I have been experimenting with. (Stay tuned for my version of pad Thai tomorrow)
A couple of days ago I posted on Facebook that I had just made pear and raspberry bread, an Australian favourite that I have been trying to replicate here in the U.S. but until now without a great deal of success. I have experimented with numerous recipes but this is the first that really tastes as good as what I get in all the coffee shops in Australia. Why American coffee shops have not discovered this really has me puzzled. This is a great alternative to banana bread and a great way to use up pears at the end of their storage life.
I adapted the recipe from one I found at Bestrecipes.com.au, but made a lot of changes and combined suggestions from a couple of other recipes I found. Hope you like it as much as I do. Enjoy. I suggest 2/3 – 1 cup sugar because I know that my American friends like things sweeter than Australians tend to make them. I used 2/3 but some of you will definitely want more.
Pear & Raspberry Bread
INGREDIENTS:
– 2 cup whole grain or wheat flour
– 2 cup all purpose flour
– 2 teaspoon baking powder
– 2 teaspoon baking soda
– 2/3 to 1 cup brown sugar
– 2 egg
– 1 cup canola oil
– 1 cup milk
– 4 pears, very ripe fresh or frozen, peeled and chopped
– 1 1/2 cup raspberries, do not thaw if using frozen
– 2 teaspoons vanilla
– 2 teaspoons cinnamon
METHOD:
1. Preheat oven to 180 C or 350 F
2. Use a blender to puree half of the pears about 1 cup. Chop remaining pears into small pieces (about 1cm²).
3. Sift flour, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon. Stir in sugar and nuts
4. beat eggs and oil together. Add to mixture, stir in milk, pureed pears and vanilla, add pear pieces and raspberries and gently sir into mixture until just combined
5. Divide mixture and bake in 2 greased loaf tins for about 50-60 minutes, until golden brown and a skewer poked in the centre comes out clean. Leave in tin to cool
SERVINGS: 24
Another great suggestion I came across is to cut each loaf into 12 pieces, freeze and then you can defrost just the number of pieces you want at a time – stops you feeling you have to consume the whole loaf at once, though that is very tempting.
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