Post-______, What Will We Do?

Last night, my home church, Good Shepherd Lutheran, hosted an ecumenical evening of Prayer and Worship in Light of Orlando. The sanctuary was full of people seeking strength, consolation, reconciliation, peace, etc. in the wake of the worst mass shooting in US history, an evil motivated by hatred of the LGBTQ community. Today, I don’t feel strong, consoled, reconciled, or peaceful about what happened. But I do feel grateful and proud that GSLC intentionally provided a space for people to be together, to feel the power and potential of loving community. I also acknowledge it had to be the spirit’s work that GSLC would wrestle with our welcome statement, full-inclusion, and ultimately become Reconciling in Christ BEFORE Orlando so that last night we could be that space. 

We still have work to do. Only a person who attended Sunday night’s vigil at St. Paul’s Episcopal AND St. James’ vigil almost a year ago post-Charleston would be aware of the vast local support for our LGBTQ brothers and sisters over our Black brothers and sisters. Nearly all the people at St. James were members of that church. Only a handful of us were white. I won’t attempt to unpack all that. I will ask the question, post-Orlando, post-Charleston, what will we do now to help...to love our neighbor?

Feed Communities

Yesterday afternoon I sat down with Kayla Norbash, Food Access Program Manager at Feed Communities. I shared a bit about the LFP. Then, Kayla shared a bit about Feed Communities, and I'm so grateful I got to learn more about it. At all levels, Feed Communities supports and expands local food systems. Feed Communities also has its own great programs: Farm to Preschool, Plant A Row, cooking classes, community gardens and food access initiatives, and--my favorite--The Ozarkansas Tool Library; those with a Fayetteville Public Library card can "check out" a tiller, and the organization just acquired its first mower! It's good to know this passionate, creative group of people works daily on addressing food insecurity in NWA.

If you'd like to learn more about Feed Communities, check out its website. (Follow the arrow or link below.) And if you, too, are concerned that one in four in NWA are food insecure, from its website, register for Feed Community's "Health and Hunger in NWA" conference. I'll be there!