Longing for a reason to Celebrate

Easter Morning by Frank Wesley

Easter Eggs, Groceries, and Old Friends

Well, DH and I tried to pick up some essentials yesterday at the local Superstore.  Wouldn't you know it...IT WAS CRAZY!!!  We had grabbed a basket and began to fill it when we were overwhelmed by the number of people there; as well as the amount of cheap Easter memorabilia.  So we shifted into reverse and escaped.  There were no casualties, but a striking reminder that we are in the land of the CONSUMER!!!!

Of course, when we got up today and chatted with friends about doing something 'easter-y' today we remembered that not only were we low on a few items...but we had no eggs.  We have not bought meat, dairy or eggs for the last few weeks.  The dairy free part is the most recent move...although I seem to recall a bag of fish in the freezer as I sit here... so we are technically in process still.  However, we are not as committed to meat free if the meat is ethically sourced...ie. acquired by hunting or free-range and organic.  It's about allowing animals the quality of life that involves the least amount of suffering.

DH has been reading John Robbins' The Food Revolution; I read part of it this fall.  I struggle with the graphic descriptions and so I skipped and skimmed through it in order to not fill my mind with disturbing images that result from my over active imagination.   Anyway, this book is going along way to convince us that factory produced meat is a major threat to sustaining an environment that is conducive to life.  And yet, the food industry seems to be relatively free of sensor from censure from the environmental movement, particularly in the part of the country which we now find ourselves.  Interestingly DH caught a session at a recent Eco-Conference and was surprised to see and hear nothing addressing the issues of factory farming and its impact on water use and waste disposal....if you think of it not only do you need a lot of water to raise animals well, but they produce tons of 'poop' that needs to be put somewhere.

All that leads to our current position of not laying down a hard line with our diet but to think about where our food comes from and what the larger impact of that food choice is.

Well, I am trying to draw myself away from that 'bunny-trail' onto the larger stream of consciousness.   Overwhelmed at the grocery store means no eggs among other things, no eggs means we have nothing to colour or to colour with...which leaves us wondering what to do for fun with our wee ones to commemorate and celebrate Easter.

As for 'Old Friends'...we had a lovely visit with old friends last night.  It was nice to chat and know that they already love us and so we could be free to work things out in conversation.  As we were making our way to the door we noticed a couple sitting at another table...  A couple we had met years ago just up for the weekend...more reconnections...  There is a funny feeling of joyous disconnect as you try to cover ten years of life in 2 hours.

And now to see what today entails...

Permeated by Ethics

So DH and I are in the process of re-evaluating life. As some of you know I have been in the process of moving my diet towards a vegan diet. Currently, we are moving our family's diet towards a more ethical and sustainable pattern.

But we don't want to stop there... how much of our life can be moved to choices that are ethical, sustainable, in favour of social justice, supporting us being able to love our neighbours... How far can we move our life to becoming a good steward of all that we have been given?

I have heard it observed that often people read the teachings of Jesus and short circuit things by assuming that the teachings are good ideas but impossible to live out. This leads to our current 'experiment'. Can we follow Jesus's teaching today? How will it change our daily choices? Could our priorities be transformed?

If we are going to be good stewards of our bodies then what will we reconsider in our eating patterns? If we are going to be good stewards of the environment then what will we reconsider in lifestyle patterns? If we are going to be good stewards of our community then what will we reconsider in our consumption patterns?

I suppose all I can say at this point is:
Watch this SPACE.

I am hoping to chronicle our families movement over the course of the next while.

Now I feel like shopping.

So DH and I were chatting about the parallels between the Roman Empire and the 'Empire' of today.  DH came to the conclusion that the empire of today is the Empire of Consumerism.  And on Monday night we had a great illustration of the way our children are groomed to become part of that 'Empire'.

The television in our house is hooked up to a DVD and that's all we watch on it...and that's enough.  We do have the luxury of grandparents on the main floor who have a fantastic cable package that we can avail ourselves of on occasion.  But I make serious attempts to limit that so that we are not a couch potato family!  One of the things that I find particularly assaulting when watching television programs is the advertising campaigns.  You could be watching a fairly innocuous home reno show and then have your confidence crushed by advertising that is intended to make you feel insecure so that you will find yourself needing the product being peddled.

So little girls had received a couple of DVDs that came with these very sweet little fairy dolls.  In the DVDs go and on goes the promotional campaign for these little dolls.  I didn't watch the stories but apparently they did their job.  Once the video was finished and turned off little P turned to her daddy and announced, "...now I feel like shopping..."  Marketing geared to children...effective and insidious. 

It brings us to the question of how can we live not under the Empire of Consumerism?  Can we change how we buy to reflect the 'subversive' ethics of our faith?  Is the luxury of choice only available to the wealthy?  Is it possible to make just choices that will become agents of change?