Freedom Farm goes to the Bronx

It was rainy this morning as we packed the van and harvested produce for YMPJ. It was kind of nice actually – misty and heavy and fresh. I gathered squash, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes and tomatillos, while the others harvested green beans, potatoes, corn, and flowers. We also offered potted oregano and cilantro plants.

We got to the Bronx at 11:15am. People were showing up asking about produce while we were still unloading the van and setting up the table! We asked them to wait, but still we could barely put it out fast enough once they started coming. 20 minutes later, you barely would have known anything had happened. It would have been gone sooner if we hadn’t asked people not to take so much and intentionally saved some back for the second wave of people who came (most of them seniors from the apartment complex across the street)! It basically turned into a grab-fest – get as much as you can while it lasts! – and we only garnered $8 in donations…I guess that’s what happens when you “sell” produce by donation to economically marginalized people...

The experience really tested the limits of my generosity. It wasn’t that I didn’t want people to take the food or that I was hoping there would be leftovers. No, I guess I just wanted to see more awareness and appreciation for the hard work that went into growing the food, and for the fact that it was organic and local. The cynical mind in me says that the only reason the folks who came were interested in the food is because it was free; they couldn’t have cared less about where it came from or whether or not it was organic. They were just happy to have good fresh food that they could afford for once! For one day in August in the Bronx, the Freedom Farm crew was able to provide access to lovingly grown, healthy organic vegetables to those who normally wouldn't have it, and I am so glad for that! I just hope they noticed how delicioius those potatoes were and savored them...

thoughts on church

I went to North UCC, the Open & Affirming one, in Middletown for the 2nd time today - and the pastor wasn't there this week either! I had multiple reactions to the service:
1) they're fairly progressive, but i'm sick of traditional male-centered theological language.
2) The service was led by lay leaders, and there was some deep story-sharing which reminded me of Sweet Home UMC. :)
3) they watched a video about worship that said "worship is supposed to be about God, not about how it makes you feel" and "Jesus calls us to worship his name, not argue about it." I see the truth in both of those statements, but...it's not worship unless it connects with me and speaks to my soul, is it? and, Jesus doesn't ask us to worship him, but to worship God. yeah, I have a problem with worshipping Jesus.
4) For special music, a woman played guitar and sang Gather Us In and Be Not Afraid - the kind of music I love and miss - it was wonderful and moving!
5) For the benediction, the same woman called everyone to join hands in a circle and said a prayer about diversity and loving our uniqueness and then we sang a song. :)
6) after experiencing number (1), it was reassuring to witness the struggle of the congregation to deal with the changing world around them and how to be God's presence; their passions around the need for action and trying to find answers for what they can do in their community.

summer snapshots

helping load the hay loft at Freedom Hill Dairy


julia on bear mountain


ann, cary, edgar and julia tying up tomatoes


adventures of the A-team: lake minnewaska and mini-golf


the A-team! (A is for Astro)
Amanda, Cary, Me, Julia

Bear foot prayer

i prayed today with my bare feet pressed
against the sun-warmed stone at the top of Bear Mountain
overlooking the Hudson River Valley
and the steep deep green of the Appalachians

beautiful view, beautiful feeling, beautiful day.

Ratatouille

Wow.

Cary just made one of the most delicious meals I've had in a long time.

It all started with the fried sage: crispy, salty, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth amazing. tasted kind of like artichoke! sensational.

Next came dinner: spicy ratatouille made with fresh vegetables from the garden including yellow summer squash, zucchini, and the most delicious potatoes ever, honest. served with spaghetti and french baguette with sage butter. So-o-o savory. simply splendid.

That was followed up by a viewing of the movie Ratatouille, which was interrupted halfway through by a plate magically appearing over my shoulder containing a wedge of baked apple pastry goodness with a dollop of ice cream.

mm-m-m delicious!

journeying

a morning writing exercise:

i am journeying to a full life in God, with God. with questions all over the place! with an unknown destination. aimlessly? i hope not. my journey has had its bumps and lumps, has not always been fun, has had its fair share of tears. my soul's journey has been to try to find God, always seeking that connection. in the words of julian of norwich, how do i "one myself to God"? it is not an easy or self-explanatory road. it has required community. my journey has been uncomfortable often. it's been hard to find the right people. i am journeying through cornfields and tomato plants and kale and collards and silence and snow and woodstoves and sweat and little boys and crayfish ponds and memories and trees and retreats and conflict and misunderstandings and new friendships and laughter and pain and joy and journals and impatience and growth. i am journeying.

huts

so i'm riding my bike along mountain road, thinking about the idea of going on a spiritual direction retreat and about my future and how i kind of just want to live like an 18th- or 19th-century homesteader, being simple, doing manual work, and that maybe i should find a job at a living history village or else go live in a hut in Africa or somewhere else, when i come to the top of a hill and find myself face to face with a new stone mcmansion fortress guarded by lions on pillars at the driveway entrace, and i can't help but let out a mournful, frustrated groan -- why do people think they need to live like that? why do they think it's ok? what's wrong with our world?

i kind of want to live in a hut...

so far...

I am really enjoying life here. I love having a community that hangs out together. and i love that we have check-in meetings to discuss how we're doing, how community life is going, etc. I like the collaborative team nature of it, too - how i get to help create the structure of my experience. and the kids are fun. :)

I do miss some of the privacy and contemplative prayer and structure of Agape. And the easy access to woodsy trails and the blatant progressiveness. It's harder for me to take reflective time for myself here - partly because there are more people to hang out with and partly because of the constant availablility of the internet via wireless on my laptop...

But it's much easier for me to talk to Ann than it ever was for me to take to Suzanne. And it's nice to have another intern here, too.

invitation

I love the place where this desk sits in my room,
in the corner between two windows facing south and east;
the way the oak-leaf-filtered light coming through the yellow-cream-edged window panes plays on the surface of the glossy white desk,
framed by the bold terracotta red of the walls.

Freedom Farm

My life journey/vocation quest/East Coast Exploration has finally led me to a place within an hour of the site of my childhood’s memories. I’m doing an internship at Freedom Farm in Middletown, NY. I met Ann and Edgar (the couple who started it with Ann’s brother Ben) at the young adult retreats at Agape – Edgar spent 8 months interning there when he was in his late 20s.

I got here on May 26th, and so far, it’s been a fun ride! Cary, the other intern, and I have been hard at work getting the garden ready: transplanting seedlings from the greenhouse, putting up pea trellises, weeding, preparing beds for more planting, caging tomatoes, mowing… and the boys (ages 4 and 7) have been keeping us busy laughing and playing baseball and basketball with them. I’m looking forward to the educational programs we’ll be doing in July and August with 9-18-year-olds from NYC.

Here’s a bit more about Freedom Farm:

MISSION STATEMENT:

Freedom Farm Community is a Christian-based youth education organization striving for peace and justice by teaching alternatives to violence, sustainable agriculture, and helping youth discover God’s transformative love for one another.

VISION STATEMENT:

Because we are people of faith who believe in a Creator God who loves creation (including the rivers, fields and forests, animals, and every human being in the world), and because we believe in Jesus Christ, who restored dignity and life to those that society degraded, and cleansed the greedy and hard-hearted, we dedicate our work on Freedom Farm to the vision of a beloved community, where all are liberated from oppression and are free to celebrate their sacred unity and diversity.

I think it’s going to be a good summer. :)

(check out my pictures on picasa and the Freedom Farm website at www.freedomfarmcommunity.org)