Nelson Mandala

Posted on December 6, 2013 by megganmanlove

He brought people of all different backgrounds to a common table.  In his own words:

“I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination.  I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons will live together in harmony with equal opportunities.  It is an ideal which I hope to live for and achieve.  But, if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.” Statement in the dock [April 20, 1964]

“I am not truly free if I am taking away someone else’s freedom, just as surely as I am not free when my freedom is taken away from me.  The oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity.” Long Walk to Freedom [1994]

 

 

 

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Two Tables and One Missed Opportunity

Posted on November 29, 2013 by megganmanlove

Last Wednesday I went to the Nampa Civic Center for a conversation about Nampa’s new High Five Community Grant to combat childhood obesity. Part of the grant proposal is a Mobile Produce Program which would expand the efforts of Trinity Community Gardens (TCG) to give people better access to fresh vegetables. By chance, I gave the invocation at the Oct. 7 City Council meeting when the announcement was made that Nampa had received this $300,000 grant.  Continue reading →

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Around the table with Outdoor Ministry Professionals

Posted on November 18, 2013 by megganmanlove

I recently returned from the Annual Lutheran Outdoor Ministry Conference at Zephyr Point on beautiful Lake Tahoe.  This is the second time we’ve held our annual conference jointly with the Presbyterian Camps and Conference Center Association.  Here are a few things I learned while sitting around tables at Zephyr Point and nearby towns: Continue reading →

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Who is invited?

Posted on November 12, 2013 by megganmanlove

Last Sunday while preaching on Luke 20:27-38, in which some Sadducees try to trap Jesus with a question about resurrection, marriage, and Levirate law, I ended with the story of the way my own mind has changed regarding Holy Communion:

Each week we return to the table, the meal, the Lord’s Supper and remember that we are all, from the oldest to youngest, children of God.  For me this Holy Communion has its own story of breaking the status quo.  In the few 100 years before the Lutheran Reformation in the 16th Century, not everyone could eat the bread and drink the wine.  Only the priests could.  Eventually the people in the assembly could eat the bread but it took even more re-formation before the laity could also drink the wine. Continue reading →

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Juxtapositions of Gleaning

Posted on November 3, 2013 by megganmanlove

Yesterday the 2013 gleaning season for Trinity Community Gardens came to an end.

Phil          Sheila2

When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the alien: I am the Lord your God. (Leviticus 23:22) Continue reading →

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CROP Walk

Posted on October 23, 2013 by megganmanlove

Last Sunday afternoon I walked three miles in Caldwell, ID with five-year-old twins and a six-year-old from Trinity Lutheran Church.  It took a long time but it was a perfect fall day and in addition to seeing the community through the eyes of these children (bus benches are a novelty, freshly mowed lawns are for everyone to play on, and people putting shingles on a roof deserve our undivided attention) I had a fun adult conversation with the girls’ mothers. Continue reading →

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ELCA World Hunger Appeal Letter

Posted on September 27, 2013 by megganmanlove

Here it is, the latest ELCA World Hunger appeal letter, featuring Trinity Lutheran Church and Univ of Idaho Canyon County Extension: Continue reading →

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Food Preservation and Family

Posted on September 20, 2013 by megganmanlove

by Diane Helton

No one was more surprised than I when I signed up to take a class last spring from the University of Idaho Extension office to become a Master Food Preserver.  Friends and family know I haven’t gardened, canned, or preserved food since the mid-1980’s when I canned peaches in August in a house without air conditioning. After that, I decided store bought was good enough. As for cooking, my family joked about dinner being ready when they smelled smoke or heard the smoke alarm. Continue reading →

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Freezing

Posted on September 6, 2013 by megganmanlove

Last night was the final class in our Home Food Preservation Workshop.  We learned about freezing produce and we TASTED samples from all three classes. Continue reading →

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Hands-on Pressure Canning

Posted on August 30, 2013 by megganmanlove

Our Home Food Preservation Workshop continues, in partnership with Univ. of ID Extension.

Last night’s class included lectures, lots of prep time, and waiting for our pressure-canners to heat up and cool down. Continue reading →

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