Sometimes I can fall into the trap of comparing myself to folks who seem better than us.
My latest one was reading that Bert's Bees is now a billion-dollar company. I am not sure there is anything useful about comparing Thistle Farms to a billion-dollar venture, but it can be deflating.
This is when my first Lenten mantra came to me.
I don’t have to get bigger to be better or try and compete with the bright lights.
Sometimes if I just quiet the noise and dim the lights, I can see the miracle of the dancing flame of my small candle in front of me.
I have always believed that our journeys begin and end with God.
But after 32 years of saying, Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return, on Ash Wednesday, I tried a new mantra this year.
If we could remember we are love, I believe our lives would be more peaceful. It is like Juilian of Norwich said a thousand years ago when she knew she was love, “all shall be well.”
I love the Farm-to-Table movement and I believe it is helping us celebrate local food and its producers. But today I want to work on Table-to-Story, and I am beginning with a new mantra for the altar at the little chapel where I serve.
I want to honor the producers and artisans of all that goes on our tables.
Set a justice table and see how the stories around the table change. You will be helping women around the world take their rightful place as the heroes of their own story.
And now a poem in honor of Caney and Katherine.
-- Becca Stevens
Originally published 3/7/24
Photo Credit: Becca in alley courtesy of Teenseed, Nairobi