My shift this cycle started last Thursday, at about the time that I had to be at my Organic Food buying group to help sort out the most recent order - we unpack and distribute the food amongst the members of the group. Its quite the organization.
I was helping weigh out dry goods, and thought about the journey that my food takes to get to me - and marveled how abundant our world has become for those of us lucky enough to live in a "first world economy." We eat good, simple, hearty food - for the most part - but we still have more food than most of the world. Just the food we have in our house - in the cupboards, fridge, 2 freezers and pantry would be considered amazing to so many of the world's peoples.
I thought about the point of origin for each piece of food I packed into my cloth bag - wondered who planted it, who picked it, who sorted and weighed it. Did they ever think of the person who would be eating this food at the other end of the supply chain?
Some time ago, I got to meet the man who, with his wife and fellow villagers, actually harvested the coffee that I was buying from his coffee collective in Central America. It was humbling to shake his hand, knowing that my consumption of his wonderful coffee had contributed to the visual and tactile evidence of his calloused hard working hands. His wife gave me a bracelet that she had woven. These people, from thousands of miles away put joy and alertness and great flavor in my thermos each morning. Their coffee cost more than other brands - but - while I could get it - it was worth it.
The abundance of the Goddess and her gifts is like that - an ongoing exchange of energy that sustains us. there is always exchange - in some energetic form. There are sacrifices - and callouses and distances to be traveled - because life is an adventure of sharing.
We are surrounded by abundance both visible and invisible. It is everywhere we look - and where we forget to look. It makes us whole - because recognizing it contributes to our sense of wholeness with the Divine. From our gratitude for all we have, we are able to move forward, to prosper. We must be grateful for this abundance - and remain thankful that our needs are met - our wants are often granted, and we have enough to share.
Some of you may recognize the Spirit-Haven food blessing within the last paragraph. It has served many of us well over the past decade or so since its creation at one of our Weekend Retreats. I invite you to use it, if it fits, to bless your food, and to receive the blessing that is given to you through the abundance of the Great Mother.
The Spirit-Haven Food Blessing
It is not we who bless this food, but this food that blesses us. Abundance is a wholeness of being, and from this, we prosper. We are grateful for this abundance, and thankful that our needs are exceeded. And so it is.
