Yesterday at the Big E I experienced something I wanted to share, but did not want it lumped in with the rest of the snippets in my Big E blogpost.
We stopped to view a demonstration for one of the kitchen gadgets; my husband enjoys watching the sales pitches so we stayed a bit to listen. It was the same type of presentation I've seen before - it slices, it dices, it scrubs your kitchen sink!
But something in me caused me to mentally step back and see something with new eyes. I watched the sales rep take a whole potato and slice it up. He then did the same with a zucchini, then a carrot, some raw cabbage and at last the precarious tomato. Then I realized with ever-widening eyes - he was THROWING AWAY all that food. Swipe! Down the table-top hole to the garbage bin beneath.
I walked away with an acute awareness that there are people in this world, people in America, even people a few miles away - that are hungry and cannot afford enough food for themselves and their loved ones. Yet here this man is throwing away what would be a dinner for two every fifteen or so minutes!
I walked away with tears in my eyes and, after he coaxed it from me, told my husband what I came to realize I was actually seeing. Here was a horrible waste of food - just for the sale of a piece of plastic and metal! Yet I was at a loss of what to do or how to respond to this...
My husband has been following a "think globally, act locally" approach to things of late. And he tried to apply this to my dilemma too. It was a bitter pill to swallow when I had to acknowledge the times I also wasted food: when I prefer fast food over the leftovers in the fridge, when we cannot eat nor doggie-bag leftovers from a restaurant when we travel.
It's a crying shame when you realize how much is wasted in restaurants, but there are also health codes that must be maintained. One hope we shared together is that culinary schools have a cooperative effort with soup kitchens to feed the hungry with the class materials as the chefs learn their stock and trade...
There were other kitchen gadget vendors there too; some served salsa, vegetable smoothies or whatever products were produced during the demo (and who wouldn't be tempted by free food). But there were others who simply threw it away........
While this was sinking in, and I came to terms that I, myself, needed to change my behaviors and waste less too, I sought the comfort of a hug from my husband. Within his embrace, I heard a whisper in my hair. "I'm here. I'll always be here with you."
At that moment, I felt the same Peace I feel when I pray. It wasn't just my husband comforting me, nor just his words. For the first time in my life, I immediately recognized Christ reaching out to me through another. Often it would take days, months, even years for it to dawn on me. But this time, I knew right away, and I cannot describe the Peace and Joy inside that moment.
It only lasted about a minute, then my husband broke the spell by asking why he suddenly felt a "whoosh" of air blowing down on him; we were inside a building at the time. It could have been the remote controlled helicopter flying from the booth six feet away or it could have been something else. I don't care to speculate. The words and His presence were enough for me.
I will now make more conscientious efforts not to waste - food or opportunities to learn.
- ESA
We stopped to view a demonstration for one of the kitchen gadgets; my husband enjoys watching the sales pitches so we stayed a bit to listen. It was the same type of presentation I've seen before - it slices, it dices, it scrubs your kitchen sink!
But something in me caused me to mentally step back and see something with new eyes. I watched the sales rep take a whole potato and slice it up. He then did the same with a zucchini, then a carrot, some raw cabbage and at last the precarious tomato. Then I realized with ever-widening eyes - he was THROWING AWAY all that food. Swipe! Down the table-top hole to the garbage bin beneath.
I walked away with an acute awareness that there are people in this world, people in America, even people a few miles away - that are hungry and cannot afford enough food for themselves and their loved ones. Yet here this man is throwing away what would be a dinner for two every fifteen or so minutes!
I walked away with tears in my eyes and, after he coaxed it from me, told my husband what I came to realize I was actually seeing. Here was a horrible waste of food - just for the sale of a piece of plastic and metal! Yet I was at a loss of what to do or how to respond to this...
My husband has been following a "think globally, act locally" approach to things of late. And he tried to apply this to my dilemma too. It was a bitter pill to swallow when I had to acknowledge the times I also wasted food: when I prefer fast food over the leftovers in the fridge, when we cannot eat nor doggie-bag leftovers from a restaurant when we travel.
It's a crying shame when you realize how much is wasted in restaurants, but there are also health codes that must be maintained. One hope we shared together is that culinary schools have a cooperative effort with soup kitchens to feed the hungry with the class materials as the chefs learn their stock and trade...
There were other kitchen gadget vendors there too; some served salsa, vegetable smoothies or whatever products were produced during the demo (and who wouldn't be tempted by free food). But there were others who simply threw it away........
While this was sinking in, and I came to terms that I, myself, needed to change my behaviors and waste less too, I sought the comfort of a hug from my husband. Within his embrace, I heard a whisper in my hair. "I'm here. I'll always be here with you."
At that moment, I felt the same Peace I feel when I pray. It wasn't just my husband comforting me, nor just his words. For the first time in my life, I immediately recognized Christ reaching out to me through another. Often it would take days, months, even years for it to dawn on me. But this time, I knew right away, and I cannot describe the Peace and Joy inside that moment.
It only lasted about a minute, then my husband broke the spell by asking why he suddenly felt a "whoosh" of air blowing down on him; we were inside a building at the time. It could have been the remote controlled helicopter flying from the booth six feet away or it could have been something else. I don't care to speculate. The words and His presence were enough for me.
I will now make more conscientious efforts not to waste - food or opportunities to learn.
- ESA
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