While it is Thanksgiving Day today in the United States, Canada and other countries around our planet also give thanks for the bounty of a full harvest. I am very thankful for the people in my life, past, present and future, and for the relative ease in which I can access food, water, and shelter for daily sustenance. It is easy to take for granted our natural resources, so I would like to propose reflection on just how generous Mother Nature is to us, and to give thanks for all we have been provided with. As Nature provides for us, we have a duty of care to protect and love her. Providence.
I wouldn’t be a cookbook author if I didn’t share another great cookbook that I love and feel is completely appropriate for the spirit of giving thanks, written by a woman in the Mennonite community: More With Less by Doris Janzen Longacre.
This book was printed on chlorine-free paper and its production saved the equivalents of roughly 5 tons of trees, 1 swimming pool’s worth of water, 1 garbage truck’s capacity of waste, and the greenhouse gas emissions of one car for an entire year’s usage. While it seems today many many people have turned away from faith because of human foibles and scandals (which I completely understand) let us remember what faith is in its purest form: a love and respect for those things seen and unseen that manifest in and guide our existence.
It is my sincere wish that people respect one another’s ideologies irrespective of one’s faith, sex, identity, race, or class; each one brings something beautiful to the tapestry we call Life; let us be thankful for the cornucopia of spiritual paths to help us along the way to enlightenment and, ultimately, peace. Giving thanks for all roads open to us, peace to you and yours.
Happy Thanksgiving.
image by graphicalnuances.com
Our World at Your Table 