Barbara's Creative Projects
I think today’s challenge is related to yesterday’s — today the only challenge is to smile! To smile as much as possible. First you need to see others and then you can brighten their day with a smile. I know that sometimes I can be so buried in my own thoughts that I don’t see others. I find it interesting, when I walk the dog, how many people will smile or say hello. I need to initiate more often.
Today we are challenged to notice the ‘invisible’ people around us, the people that are a part of our landscape so we tend not to see them, sometimes we actually look down on them, and then greet them and say thank you or even bless them with a gift.
Your administrative assistant might be one such person. It is always such a treat when someone thanks me for what I do!
Another such person may be the custodian or cleaning lady. Tracy, who for over 30 has kept First Mennonite sparkling clean, has experienced invisibility from congregants so many times. She has told me of the hurt she feels when she greets someone and they walk past without reply. And worse yet, when she gives suggestions regarding the maintenance and upkeep of the building that is ignored. She knows the building in an intimate way none of the rest of us do! The property maintenance committee would do best to consult Tracy when needing to make a decision. My friendship with her has made me conscious of acknowledging and thanking the custodian of my building for the hard work he puts in, especially given all the salt that’s dragged in all winter.
Bus drivers, sales clerks, letter carriers — there are many people whose paths we cross every day who deserve to be seen.
Today’s challenge is to support fair trade wherever possible. Too often the big corporations that supply items for large retail chains care more about their profits than about the product or the people that produce that product. Fair trade seeks to rectify that by ensuring the producers are getting a fair price and that the production practices are sustainable.
There are many products that are fair trade, from coffee and cocoa to clothing and accessories. Organizations like Ten Thousand Villages base their operations on fair trade.
I used to buy fair trade coffee from Baden Coffee Company, but then found out that my own brother buys green coffee beans and roasts them himself. Now I buy half a pound, ensuring freshness, at a time from Don. This is what he had to say about the beans:
“The coffee beans I buy are fair trade organic certified. FTO as it is known is better than not although it is not perfect. Fair Trade means farmers are guaranteed a certain price ahead of time for their beans so they have some basis for deciding and planning. If the price of coffee is lower than their guaranteed price they are paid on the contracted price. Two things are not so good, one is that if the price increases by the time the crop comes off they do not benefit from this increase in value and the other fact is they are still paying quite a few “middle men” in the process.
A better way yet to buy beans is “Direct Trade” as it’s often called which is generally some kind of cooperative of farmers selling directly to importers who then roast the beans or maybe sell to other roasters. The cooperative shares the risk with everyone but also the benefits if markets go up.
Non Fair Trade likely means the buyer has simply offered the lowest price he can for various reasons and then marks it up as high as he can.
That’s a condensed version of the ways to get coffee.
The decaf coffee I roast for you is almost always Nicaraguan and the regular coffee is Ethiopian or Kenyan most of the time.”
February 29 – an extra day in the year, “an extra gift of time.” Today’s challenge is just to make use of that gift to be generous in whatever way we wish to be generous.
For today’s blog I’m just going to celebrate the newest member of the Gingerich Family – Luca Conner White, newborn son of Holly and Trevor, born 9:30 pm on February 28, weighing 5 pounds 4 ounces. Welcome, Luca!
“Adoption is a central concept in the Christian faith.” The basic challenge today is to make a friend across an age divide, or to find a new way to show care for others, or to find a long-term way to become a catalyst for something that changes your life and the lives you touch.
I like the “adopt” idea, but think we need to broaden it from the “other people” stance. We need to adopt roads, adopt animals, care about creation as we care about our families. We need to recognize that we are all family. Not just all people, but all creation!
In this regard Canada’s First Nations have a lot to teach us. I was so happy to take part in the “Dancing Toward Reconciliation” event last night, and look forward to more today.