Remembering thankfulness

New Life Journal, Oct-Nov, 2004 by Erin Everett

I'm writing this letter in mid-September. Last week, Atlanta's phones and electricity were out, the city of Asheville was out of water, and large parts of our region were under water as a result of the weather. Yesterday, we worried that we would miss our press date for this issue because electricity was down again from another storm that followed close on the heels of the first one. Weather is a funny thing; we enjoy it when it's sunny, we grumble about it when rain spoils our plans ... often we don't even pay attention to it. We forget to even look up at the sky. When weather spins out of control, like it has here over the last couple of weeks, it's a wake-up call for all of us. When natural disaster hits, we realize just how fragile we human beings are, and we have an opportunity to notice our connection to the world around us.

Indigenous peoples--all of our ancestors--had and have a strong connection to the weather in all its forms. To them, all the aspects of weather have a consciousness, and the weather's actions are communications with the peoples of the earth. I often travel to Mexico, where the people not only make offerings to Jesus, the Virgin of Guadalupe, and the Catholic saints, but they also make offerings to the weather, thanking the weather for all that they have. They remember the fundamentals. Without gentle, consistent rain, farmers' crops would not grow. Not only would they lose their livelihoods, but none of the people would have food to eat. On the other hand, hail or mudslides could destroy the same crops and again leave the people starving. Gentle, balanced weather assures them that their offerings have been appreciated.

Our modern lives encourage us to forget the simplest things. We live mired in the illusion that we are safe and secure within. Our technology's structures. The weather we experienced in early September gave us a warning and a reminder not to forget. Whether we're conscious of it or not, we're intimately connected to the world around us--not only the garden in our backyard but also the clouds in motion above our heads, looking down on us as they dance and whisper. With this Healthy Eating issue, I offer my thanks to the weather for the many blessings it brings to us: for sparkling water, for the lushness of green and growing things, for the harvest of good food that we can grow ourselves or buy at our local farmer's market, co-op, or supermarket every day. We are truly blessed.

I hope you enjoy this issue, filled with good information about eating right, along with delicious recipes to tempt every palate. Savor it in the spirit of thankfulness and fun with which we created it.

Bon appetit!

Erin Everett

Editor/Publisher