Resolutions?

Here is an interesting approach to new year's resolutions. Mary Yost, in her blog, suggests that we have the whole thing backwards. She writes,

By making resolutions at the beginning of the year, it's like we slap our worst flaws on a neon sign and then announce to the world what we are likely to fail at in the coming year.

If you are really committed to doing whatever it is that you "resolve" to do in the new year, wouldn't you have done it already? And if something really is a resolution, doesn't that word mean a problem has already been fixed?

Instead, as one year winds down and we plow toward the next, we continue the bad behaviors and problem habits that we swear we're going to address as we flip the calendar over.

My New Year's Day thoughts played with this notion yesterday. What if we instead celebrate the fresh new calendar by acknowledging our successes of the previous year? Wouldn't that give us extra momentum to deal with our shortcomings throughout the year so that we really will have new victories to hail with the new year?

I love this idea! What successes are you celebrating that you can build on? What do you see at St. John's that can give us extra momentum as we move forward in 2010? What other strategies help you stay focused on what is most important?

Manna from Heaven!

One person called it, "manna from heaven!" She was referring to the amazing generosity of so many people over the past several weeks to The Largest Table. Jerry, a new member who worked at The Ohio State Fair, coordinated getting us all of the leftovers from the Ohio Poultry Association - we're talking hundreds of pounds of mashed potatoes, chicken, and turkey and other wonderful food! Suzanne, a friend a St. John's, linked up with the Leave A Mark Church who has planted an incredible community garden this year. For the past several Tuesdays Suzanne has been harvesting fresh vegetables from the garden, bringing them to St. John's, and cleaning them all so that they are ready for our Wednesday crew to prepare the next day. To see photos of the "first harvest" go to the Leave A Mark web site, click-on the “What We Do” link and then “Community Garden.” This is easy to navigate but for some reason I was unable to connect the link here.

On Wednesday, as I sat with guests at The Largest Table, I heard comment after comment about how great it was to have fresh fruit and fresh vegetables, and of course a regular favorite - Nancy Dietz' taco salad. A couple of people mentioned that is so rare for them to eat fresh vegetables ... and these were so fresh you could smell that they were picked the previous day!

Amidst all of these generous gifts of food, we have lost some of our regular volunteers. A couple of people have left because of illness, and several other summer volunteers are heading back to school next week. As our guest list continues to increase, we are in need of some more volunteers. I am hoping they might fall from heaven, too - a few to help serve on Wednesdays from 11:45 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. and a few more saints who can help clean from 1:00 - 2:30 p.m.

Cilantro, Heavy Lifting, and Sales Receipts

The "Tuesday Team" was back at it yesterday; we prepared Mexican Chili for today's lunch at The Largest Table. I woke up this morning looking forward to lunch - the smells were great as we were leaving last night! The chili will be served with a dollop of sour cream and a few snips of fresh cilantro from the children's garden. There was something really thrilling about being able to harvest a huge amount of fresh cilantro from right outside our doors and know that it was the children of the church who planted it. I am sure not everyone will opt for the cilantro garnish today, but I think it is what will make this soup.

I also have a renewed appreciation for Joan and Mary, and our core "Wednesday Team." Between all of the cans of tomatoes, beef broth and black beans that were opened to make chili for 300 last night, I think Latsi was opening cans for more than an hour straight! I am sure she will be able to feel the workout on her arms this morning. And then there was Stephanie who was able to lift our largest pots FULL of browned ground beef, onions, and peppers to drain them and return it the pan. But that is not at all unusual. Our volunteers often need to open that many cans. We always have full and heavy pots. The quantities of food we are preparing now are really quite amazing. I wish I had taken a photo of all of the empty cans - maybe I can get one later today and post it here. Think multiple cases that filled the entire back of my car! So, I have renewed appreciation for the physical labor that our volunteers engage in week after week.

I also have a renewed appreciation for their thriftiness. I am not sure how Joan does it. Routinely, she is able to shop for a meal to serve 200-300 people for less than $200. That is less than $1 per serving for a home cooked meal with all of the food groups. Repeat: I am not sure how Joan does it. I think of myself as a pretty good shopper, but I wasn't quite able to work her magic. I think she has the in with the loaves and fishes guy.

Make Like a Potato

On Monday, I began a fun read, Julie & Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously. As soon as I saw the preview of the film that will be out later this summer, I knew I wanted to read the book before seeing the movie. In it, Julie Powell decides to cook her way through each of the 524 recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, volume 1, in 365 days.

One of the first recipes she tries is a soup, Potage Parmentier (potato soup). There is nothing in the soup but leeks, potatoes, butter, water, pepper, and salt. It is a "simple soup," but it is not "easy" to make. I won't detail all of the peeling, ricing, simmering steps here, but let it suffice to say it is a process. The process got Julie thinking about the difference between "easy" and "simple," and as a result it has me thinking about it, too.

She wrote about it this way, "This life we had going for us felt like the opposite of Potage Parmentier. It was easy enough to keep on with the soul-sucking jobs; at least it saved having to make a choice. But how much longer could I take such an easy life? Quicksand was easy. Hell, death was easy....maybe I need to make like a potato, winnow myself down, be a part of something that was not easy, just simple."

It reminds me of the wonderful Quaker hymn, "'Tis a gift to be simple, 'tis a gift to be free, 'tis a gift to come down where you ought to be ..."

Anticipation!

Tonight is Body & Soul, our annual fundraiser for The Largest Table. I woke up early and easily like a child often will when it is Christmas morning, or when he anticipates a full, fun day with his best friend! I know today will be full and fun.

This is the 6th year for Body & Soul. Every year the event has grown, and with growth always comes new challenges. One of the challenges was simply finding a large enough space! This year we are "coming home" to St. John's so that we can accommodate extra people and extra items for our silent auction. I have been amazed at the large number of people who have offered their gifts and expertise to make this a truly wonderful event. From donating or soliciting items, creating a catalogue, decorating, cooking, or simply offering wonderful helping hands, I think we have more people than ever involved in all of the behind the scenes work involved with any big event like this. Susan Olson, the chair of the event, has done an amazing job of pulling forth those gifts and inviting wide participation. I sense the reason so many people are so glad to help is that they care so much about The Largest Table. Watching it all happen reminds me of Feeding the 5000. If we bring and share what we have, there is not only enough - there is abundance!

Pictured here are Pam Yost and Susan Olson working on decorations yesterday. Pam has coordinated them - I have never seen Fellowship Hall look so elegant!

If you don't have your ticket yet ... no problem! Call our office today, or just show up at the door! Body & Soul will begin at 7:00 p.m. I can hardly wait!