Injustice Anywhere: Gun Violence and our Dinner Table

Breakfast: Egg burrito, grapes

Lunch: carrots, sugar snap peas, hummos, lots of almonds, diet coke, apple, double coconut muffin aka deLISH. 

Dinner: black bean dish a la this casserole, peas, chocolate covered almonds

Origin of One Item: Almonds 

I used a cool website called What's on My Food. It even has a free App.  It's a little too much info. in my opinion, but thorough. 

It seems there's probably an upswing in pesticide use for conventional almonds, but it's not a lot. And most of them come from CA. Mine came in the shell (a pain, but cheaper overall I hope!) so if the pesticides remain mostly on the shell, then so much the better for you, and the worse for me. 

Theological Reflection:

From the Web of Creation: Biblical Themes about Creation: 

Justice for humans is related to justice toward Earth.

"For the Bible, creation is one world. Humans and the rest of nature are inextricably tied together as part of one reality with a common relationship with God. Therefore, when humans flourish in peace and justice, also the land flourishes with grapes and grain. On the other hand, when there is violence and injustice, the land languishes."

The earth dries up and withers. The world languishes and withers. The earth lies polluted under its inhabitants, for they have transgressed laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse devours the land.” (Is 24:4-7;)

This weekend was an especially good food one, though I didn't enjoy it much. I was too caught up in the Treyvon Martin case. And last weekend was an especially violent one here in Chicago. There were 49 people shot, 10 were fatal and included a 6yr old girl on her front porch. In the coverage one father said he now couldn't let his son go outside for fear the boy would be shot too. 

If a child is not safe outside, they are not outside as much. Parents should do what they need to in order to keep their children safe.  And while outdoor activities like Sierra's Club No Child Left Inside or community gardens or park clean-ups are good and necessary, they can sound hollow on certain weekends. Outside? No way. 

If we are ever going to build a diverse coalition to combat change(which we need), we must understand this crucial dynamic of how the injustice of gun violence--of any human injustice--intersects with the injustice felt by the earth. 

So back to the good part of the weekend: food. Our meals can create justice and health for our families and communities, and for the environment. They do this when we create them mindful of local, organic, simple, colorful, seasonal, whole. But they also can do this by an awareness of who eats them and where.  

So at your next meal, who might you welcome in peace to the dinner table? Because whether we feel we can or can't go outside--due to violence, pollution, or what have you--at least we might gather and give thanks, making our meal into a sacrament. By so doing, may we honor all that  suffers injustice and give thanks for our connection to them. 

Then maybe we find the courage to take our meal outside. 


Erika