Several years ago, while stocking shelves with canned goods from our school community food drive at the Friends in Deed food pantry in Pasadena, California, I was drawn to the table in the center of the room. On that table was produce that had been discarded from other sources, produce that would not be chosen by grocery store customers, produce that was nearly rotten.
The distress I felt, knowing that these discarded vegetables and fruits would be the only produce option for the pantry’s clients, moved me to envision that table transformed. The Eucharist table was my inspiration for a table where we, the faithful and not-so-faithful, the rich and poor, the hungry and well-fed, are invited each week – a table where we are fed and nourished by Christ’s body and blood through the best from God not leftovers. This vision became a reality by reflecting upon the transformational experiences found both in
Hebrew and Christian scriptures (the Garden of Eden, the Garden at Gethsemane and the garden where Jesus was buried and resurrected), which led to the building of a school garden, The Garden of H.O.P.E. (Helping Others and Pleasing the Earth).
All produce grown in the garden is delivered to Friends in Deed, where the hungry in our community have the best produce to choose from, not leftovers. The Gooden School community has experienced the joy of working with the earth from which we were made, the joy of growing food for our hungry brothers and sisters, and the joy of knowing that as a community we are living out our baptismal vows, truly becoming Christ’s hands and feet in the world. This fall, we will be using The Abundant Life Garden Project curriculum from Episcopal Relief & Development, through which the students will also learn about the lives of people in extreme poverty and hunger around the world.
This Sunday, May 29, is Rogation Sunday. As your community takes time to appreciate and recognize dependence on God and the earth, consider making a commitment to build a garden to grow food for hungry neighbors in your community. Feeding others from the garden of God’s abundance will not only transform your local pantry table, but will transform your community in yet unimagined ways … gifts of God for the people of God.
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Marianne Van Vorst Ryan is Assistant Head of School at the Gooden School in Sierra Madre, California.
The distress I felt, knowing that these discarded vegetables and fruits would be the only produce option for the pantry’s clients, moved me to envision that table transformed. The Eucharist table was my inspiration for a table where we, the faithful and not-so-faithful, the rich and poor, the hungry and well-fed, are invited each week – a table where we are fed and nourished by Christ’s body and blood through the best from God not leftovers. This vision became a reality by reflecting upon the transformational experiences found both in
Hebrew and Christian scriptures (the Garden of Eden, the Garden at Gethsemane and the garden where Jesus was buried and resurrected), which led to the building of a school garden, The Garden of H.O.P.E. (Helping Others and Pleasing the Earth). All produce grown in the garden is delivered to Friends in Deed, where the hungry in our community have the best produce to choose from, not leftovers. The Gooden School community has experienced the joy of working with the earth from which we were made, the joy of growing food for our hungry brothers and sisters, and the joy of knowing that as a community we are living out our baptismal vows, truly becoming Christ’s hands and feet in the world. This fall, we will be using The Abundant Life Garden Project curriculum from Episcopal Relief & Development, through which the students will also learn about the lives of people in extreme poverty and hunger around the world.
This Sunday, May 29, is Rogation Sunday. As your community takes time to appreciate and recognize dependence on God and the earth, consider making a commitment to build a garden to grow food for hungry neighbors in your community. Feeding others from the garden of God’s abundance will not only transform your local pantry table, but will transform your community in yet unimagined ways … gifts of God for the people of God.
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Marianne Van Vorst Ryan is Assistant Head of School at the Gooden School in Sierra Madre, California.
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