Quenching Our Thirst

Scripture: “…while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me.’” – John 7:37 NRSVUE

Last month, I was invited to lead a lesson at Club 45, a weekly gathering of 4th and 5th graders at Newlonsburg Presbyterian Church in Murrysville, PA.  Rain was on the forecast for the evening (fitting that our topic was water and hydration). I ended up with a room fuller than usual with young people.  Many of them have sports practices (which is why I picked hydration as our topic) that often meet at the same time as Club 45, but since it was raining, their practices were canceled.  This resulted in a very high energy evening, as many of them are used to burning off their energy at practice. I was left enthusiastic but exhausted! 

After a quick introduction, I started the lesson by asking the students the following questions:

• Do you think it would be a good idea to give small children, animals, or plants soda or a sports drink?  What would happen if we did? 
• What are the differences between the healthy watered plant and the unhealthy plant? (I included the image with this message).
• What do you think might happen to our bodies if we stopped drinking mostly water and drank soda, fruit drinks, and sports drinks instead? Or if we simply stopped drinking much at all? 

My reflection question for you – how would you respond? 

Water is what human beings, animals, and plants were designed to drink. Drinking water is what helps us stay healthy!  For example, water helps to regulate our body temperature and to moisten tissues in our eyes, nose, and mouth.¹  It protects our bodies, organs, and tissues; carries nutrients and oxygen to cells; lubricates our joints; and lessens the burden on our kidneys and liver by flushing out waste products, among other things!  Likewise, for plants, water is an essential nutrient and, in fact, comprises up to 95% of a plant’s tissue. Water is required for a seed to sprout, the carrying of nutrients throughout the plant, transpiration (which keeps the plant from overheating), and so much more!²

Drinks other than water often have added ingredients that get in the way of water’s ability to do what it’s supposed to do for us.  (Want some hydration tips?  Be sure to check out our health highlight section in this newsletter)!

 Sports drinks certainly have their place; as an active long distance runner, I use them on long runs. However, they are generally not necessary for exercise lasting less than an hour. For this level of exertion, water will suffice.  (For more information on how to utilize sports drinks appropriately, click here. For information specifically for children, click here).   

As for soda-coke-pop, consider reserving it for special occasions and instead quench your daily thirst with flavorful alternatives.  For example, if you haven’t tried fruit/vegetable/herb infused water, I encourage you to do so. Check out our recipe link for some ideas — the Club 45 youth gave the three samples we shared with them (orange/lemon/lime, tangerine/blueberry, and cucumber/lemon/mint) a huge thumbs up!  Also, if you’d like a healthier soda alternative, check out that recipe as well. That, too, received the youth’s approval!   

In addition to quenching your physical thirst this summer, I also want to encourage you to be attentive to hydrating yourself spiritually.   

If you’re anything like me, you tend to push yourself pretty hard through the fall-winter-spring seasons of life and you always look forward to the slower summer months, when you not only physically slow down (which makes it easier for you to care for your physical hydration needs) but also find it easier to carve out more time to spiritually hydrate yourself (through prayer, “sipping” on good spiritual books, enjoying time in God’s creation both by yourself and with others, etc.). 

Likewise, I challenge you to discover and practice new ways of making mind-body-soul hydration part of your daily routine this summer.  And, if you are willing, we’d love for you to share some of your spiritual thirst-quenching recipes with us! 

Peace,

Karen H. Webster

HSHC Co-founder/Executive Director

¹Allie Wergen, “Water: Essential for your body,” September 29, 2022, Mayo Clinic Health System, accessed at https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/water-essential-to-your-body.

² Jodi Richmond, “How Plants Use Water,” WV Extension, March 1, 2021, accessed at https://extension.wvu.edu/lawn-gardening-pests/news/2021/03/01/how-plants-use-water.

Fruit-Infused Waters

Radical Change Requires Radical Trust

Spring is in the air!  However, unlike any other year that I can recall, the destructive impact of the wind is hard to ignore: old-growth trees damaged in California, deadly tornadoes in the South and Midwest, and many flights delayed or canceled due to high winds, with those that are able to take off experiencing significant turbulence.  These examples (plus many others that are impacting our world) have been linked to climate change, a very real, intimidating, and anxiety-laden issue that is becoming increasingly hard to ignore.  

While it may be tempting to despair, I want to share with you a reflection I offered last month at a workshop that Karen and I held at Columbia Theological Seminary’s “Just Creation: Shalom for Our Common Home” national conference:   

Research published in 2016 suggests that, in some regions, anthropogenic¹ climate change due to Industrial-era activity began in the 1830s, which is earlier than previously thought.²  We know that scientists were already calculating the greenhouse effect in the 1890s and that concern about anthropogenic climate change increased throughout the latter half of the 20th century.³  This is not to say that the link was clear during this whole timespan; it was not until 1880 that formal weather monitoring stations were widespread enough to give a more accurate picture of global temperature trends.4   

It is incorrect to say that nobody saw this coming.  However, as we also know, there have been significant and sustained efforts from various people and entities to stop this climate science from translating into meaningful action (globally, nationally, and personally).  As a result, we find ourselves past the point where smaller, more incremental changes are reasonable.  Only radical change will do.

According to the IPCC’s (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report, “If, by 2030, we cut our carbon emissions in about half – and, by 2050, we don’t emit any more carbon emissions than the planet can absorb each year – scientists predict that we can avoid the worst threats of climate change.”5

While this kind of change can feel daunting and will require worldwide efforts – the more widespread implementation of green technologies and the development of new technologies (such as carbon capturing and fusion) – individual and community actions are also important.  

 If you are like me, it is easy to think that the problem is too big, or it is too late, for my action to be meaningful, or that the changes we need to make are more drastic than I want to make.  However, the Bible has many examples of God asking people and groups to make radical changes:

• Noah, who built a boat and gathered animals despite no evidence of a coming flood (Gen. 6:11-22).
• Abram and Sarai, who, despite any suggestion that they had ever heard of God, picked up and left Haran and went to Canaan when God told them to do so (Gen. 12:1-5a).
• Mary, who assented to the angel Gabriel’s request even though it perplexed her (Lk. 1:26-38).
• The disciples, who left behind their families and livelihoods when Jesus called them to follow him (Mk. 1:16-20, 2:13-14).
• Saul, whose conversion was so unexpected and abrupt that people didn’t trust it to be genuine (Acts 9:1-30).

These biblical characters didn’t see immediate and obvious results after making these changes; they often had to wait for quite a while to perceive the fruits of their change, if they ever saw them at all.  However, they trusted that their changes would make a difference far beyond their cognizance.  In other words, radical change requires radical trust.

This great cloud of witnesses, as the author of Hebrews calls them, who acted out of such radical trust, can be our inspiration as we consider the radical changes we ourselves are called to make as stewards of God’s creation.

The changes we need to make in our daily lives to address climate change require the faith that they will make a difference.  For example, when we are intentional about changing how we eat, particularly making more whole-foods, plant-based choices, this allows us to:

• Respond positively to the food systems that are responsible for 25% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.6
• And this can provide communities of faith the opportunity to explore and incorporate more biblical plant foods into their diets.  
  • Eating this way positively impacts our personal health and the health of the planet and it also connects us to our rich Christian heritage as people of faith.  
  • By eating biblical plant foods, we can simultaneously act to preserve our cultural heritage, while also helping to sustain the environment as a legacy for generations to come.

This, then, really isn’t that radical at all; it is actually rediscovering an interesting, enjoyable, and frequently overlooked part of our common heritage.

While what we learned at the conference was difficult, it also gave us both hope that we are not helpless in the face of climate change, which is a message we tried to communicate in our presentation.  The radical trust we are called to have may not be easy for us, but God is even more radically trustworthy.  This way, radical trust in a radically trustworthy God is what will help you, me, and our churches live in the faith that the changes we make today will create a better tomorrow.  

Peace,

Travis Webster

HSHC Co-founder

¹ “Scientists use the word “anthropogenic” in referring to environmental change caused or influenced by people, either directly or indirectly.” https://www.usgs.gov/news/earthword-anthropogenic.

² Abram, N., McGregor, H., Tierney, J. et al., “Early onset of industrial-era warming across the oceans and continents,” Nature 536, 411–418 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature19082.

³ Abram, McGregor, and Tierney, “Early onset of industrial-era warming across the oceans and continents,” Nature 536, 411–418.

4 Abram, McGregor, and Tierney, “Early onset of industrial-era warming across the oceans and continents,” Nature 536, 411–418.

5 MIT Climate Portal, “What Can Be Done About Climate Change?”, https://climate.mit.edu/what-can-be-done-about-climate-change, viewed March 10, 2023. Summarized from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report, Global Warming of 1.5°C (https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/).

6 Hannah Ritchie, “Food production is responsible for one-quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions,” Our World in Data, November 6, 2019, https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions.

Quick, Easy, Tasty Coleslaw Recipe with 4 No-Oil Dressing Options

• This is also great using shredded broccoli and carrot. 
• We enjoy adding some chopped apples and a handful of raisins to this salad.
• This recipe includes a cashew-based dressing, which is excellent.  However, we’ve also provided 3 other no-oil dressing options that are nut free.

Winter Rest

“Return, O my soul, to your rest, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.” Psalm 116:7

For many people, this time of year is challenging, especially for those who live in northern, colder climates (like where we live in Western Pennsylvania).  The days are short, and the nights are long.  Gray clouds often mute even the brightest day, creating a heaviness that can weigh on people. (For resources on treating Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), click here).

Yet, something about winter’s lack of light energizes me.  Some of my energy may stem from setting New Year’s resolutions for myself (even though theologically I know that we are born anew every day).  But this does not fully explain my experience last winter when creative energy burst out of sitting in the lack of light. 

After a busy season of planting and harvesting in our backyard garden, I sat in our living room early one morning.  The room was not lit; there was only a faint glow of the winter moonlight coming through the window, causing my focus to narrow to the space right in front of me.  As I quietly sat there, my imagination wandered.  Where?  Of course, to one of my favorite things—plants!  I thought that like humans, plants also need time without light to grow.  As I sat with the lack of light, day after wintery day, I delved into the interconnectedness of people and plants, and in the process discovered a source for my revitalized energy.  This led to me writing a piece last summer entitled “From the Ground Up: Digging Deeper into our Body-Garden Connection” as a guest blogger for Columbia Theological Seminary.  So that we can dig into the richness of this interconnectedness more deeply, I chose the “People-Plant Connection” as the theme for HSHC’s 2023 newsletters.

Here are several People-Plant Connections to start off this new year:

• Sunlight is a key triggering element for humans that lets us know when to sleep and when to wake.  The same is true of plants.  “Just like humans who work during the day and get their shut-eye at night, plants also work on the cycle of the Sun, and are known to have genes that switch on and off in what is known as a circadian rhythm” [1].  
• During the night, both plants and people rest, which promotes growth.  “Sleep allows the brain and body to slow down and engage in processes of recovery, promoting better physical and mental performance the next day and over the long-term” [2].  “When the sun goes down, the plant’s focus shifts [from absorbing energy from the sun through the process of photosynthesis] to delivering glucose throughout the plant;” giving it energy to grow [3].
• Healing happens while plants and people sleep.  “During deep sleep, your body works to repair muscle, organs, and other cells.  Chemicals that strengthen your immune system start to circulate in your blood” [4].  Likewise, “trees often relax and let their branches droop when the sun goes down” [5].  

This brings me back to the theme of this newsletter and how an unlit space during an overcast season helped me discover my energy.  I learned three seasonal rhythms that hold true for me:

•     More rest – Longer nights make it easier for me to get more sleep.
•     Less activity – Less gardening not only provides rest for my body but also gives me more time to focus my mental energy on other things.

•     Less light to illuminate other objects, creates more space for me to grow in my relationship with God.

As we continue to move into this new year, I want to encourage you to consider: what does more sleep, slowing down, and creating more space to grow in God look like for you? What rhythms of winter do you embody?  

Peace,

Karen H. Webster

HSHC Co-founder/Executive Director

If you would like to learn more about what plants are doing at night, here is a quick and insightful overview:

1:30-minute video clip, “Do Plants Sleep?” 

¹ https://www.scienceabc.com/nature/do-plants-and-trees-sleep.html

² https://www.sleepfoundation.org/how-sleep-works/what-happens-when-you-sleep

³ https://www.scienceabc.com/nature/do-plants-and-trees-sleep.html

4 https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/ss/slideshow-sleep-body-effects

5 https://www.scienceabc.com/nature/do-plants-and-trees-sleep.html

Recipes (Healthy for You and Your Budget)

• Creating your own vegetable broth is quick, easy, reduces food waste, and can save you money!
• Other ways to utilize fruit and vegetable scrap (plus, another kitchen scrap vegetable broth recipe): How to Use Food Scraps to Reduce Kitchen Waste

Tofu “Feta” Cheese

Ingredients

• 15oz/16 oz. firm/extra firm tofu
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (distilled vinegar works, too)
• 1 TBSP Greek seasoning
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 2 tsp salt
• ½ tsp black pepper

Instructions:

• Drain tofu.
• Chop tofu into ½ inch cubes.
• Put tofu in a tall jar (24 oz. or larger) or glass bowl with lid.
• Put spices in the jar/bowl with the tofu.
• Add the liquids.
• Put lid on jar or bowl and gently turn it upside down and right side up a few times to mix the ingredients.
• Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or, preferably, overnight. Give it a stir or a shake every few hours (or so) to ensure all the cubes become marinated.
• Enjoy! You can keep the leftover tofu in the marinade for at least a week in the fridge; it becomes more flavorful as it sits.

Mint Ginger (Kashayam) Tea

(2 servings)

Kashayam is an Ayurvedic tea brewed with whole spices to boost immunity among other health benefits.

Ingredients

• 16 oz water
• 2 sprigs mint (12-18 medium/large leaves)
• 1 tsp ginger (fresh, finely chopped or grated)
• ¼ tsp coriander (whole seeds)
• ½ cinnamon stick
• Optional: 
  • 1 tsp raisins (chopped)
  • 6 whole walnuts

Instructions:

• Chop ginger into tiny pieces and chop raisins (if using).
• Heat water to a boil. 
• Using a tea pot or cooking pot, pour water over mint leaves, ginger, coriander seeds, cinnamon stick, and raisins.
• Cover and steep for 3-5 minutes.
• Garnish with 3 walnuts.*
• Enjoy!

*Note:

• The original recipe recommends serving this with 3 walnuts because the natural fats in walnuts (and other nuts) appear to increase the bioavailability of fat-soluble phytonutrients found in plants.

Adapted from: NutritionScience.in

Lentil and Barley Salad

(12 servings)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups dry green lentils 
• 1 cup barley* 
• 2 cups greens (Swiss chard, collards, kale, lettuce) of choice (chopped; raw or cooked) 
•  1/2 cup fresh cilantro or parsley (chopped) 
• 1 small onion (chopped) or 2-3 green onion (chopped)
• 1 apple (diced) 
• 1 cup pomegranate arils/seeds (when in season) or ½ – 3/4 cup dried fruit (pomegranate arils, golden raisins, apricots)
•  1/4 cup almonds* (chopped, sliced, or slivered) 
• Optional: 
  • Salad topper: tofu feta (link to recipe)
  • Add roasted (and cooled) vegetables of your choice (sweet potatoes, carrots, whatever is in season)

Dressing

• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 garlic cloves (chopped)
• 2 TBSP Dijon mustard
• 2 TBSP Date paste*
• Pinch of salt and pepper

Instructions:

• Combine the lentils and barley with 5 cups of water.
• Bring to a boil and then cover, reduce to a simmer, and cook until the lentil and barley are done, about 25 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool.
• In a mason jar – add the apple cider vinegar, garlic, Dijon mustard, date paste, salt and pepper (to taste).
• Shake vigorously until emulsified and combined.
• Combine the cooled barley and lentils, pomegranate arils, greens of choice, cilantro/parsley, apple, almonds, and roasted vegetables (if using).
• Dress with the vinaigrette and toss thoroughly to combine.
• Serve cold or at room temperature.
• Optional: Top salad with tofu feta

*Notes:

• To make this gluten-free – substitute the barley with brown rice or my favorite combination (1/3 cup of each buckwheat, millet, and amaranth).
• To make this nut-free – use sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds instead of almonds.
• Date paste substitute – add 3-4 med-size dates (chopped) to the dressing recipe and 1-2 tsp. of water.  Then instead of shaking the dressing in a mason jar to mix the ingredients, blend the dressing using an immersion blender.

Adapted from: ParsnipsandPastries.com

Fig, Date, and Walnut Bread

(Makes 1 loaf)

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup water or tea (black, green, herbal, whatever you like)
• ½ cup dried figs (chopped and any tough stems discarded)
• ½ cup dried dates (pitted and chopped)
• 1 cup whole wheat flour (or gluten-free, all-purpose flour)
• 1 cup oat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 TBSP ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 cup almond butter (or ¼ cup almond flour mixed with 2-3 TBSP plant-based milk) or sunflower seed butter (nut-free option)
• 1/3 – 1/2 cup date paste (or 1/2 cup chopped dates blended with a couple of TBSP of water)
• ⅔ cup fresh orange juice (from 2 to 3 oranges)
• Grated zest of 1 orange
• ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
• ½ cup walnuts, chopped
• ¼ tsp salt

Optional:

• Top with sunflower seed “cream” cheese and a few dashes of cinnamon.*

Directions:

• • Preheat oven to 350º F.
  • Line a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper.
  • In a small saucepan, heat water or tea over medium-high heat.  When it just starts to bubble, turn off heat, and leaving pot on the burner, add chopped dried figs and dried dates.  Leave them to soften while you continue with the recipe.
  • Put chopped nuts into a shallow baking pan and toast in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes, or until walnuts are brown and rich smelling.  Remove from oven and set aside.
  • Meanwhile, in a large bowl, sift together whole wheat flour and oat flour, baking soda, orange zest, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
  • In another bowl, mix together orange juice, date paste, almond butter, and apple sauce. 
  • Add wet ingredients to dry ones.
  • Drain figs and dates and add to batter. 
  • Gently add walnuts and stir just till combined. 
  • Pour into prepared loaf pan.
  • Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until top is golden and puffed and an inserted tester comes out clean.
  • Enjoy!*

   

  *Notes:

  • For a sunflower seed “cream” cheese recipe click here – Omit the garlic! And, you can use raw sunflower seeds instead of “sprouted.”
  • Wrapped well, bread freezes well or keeps well in the refrigerator for several days, but judging by the audience last week, tends to be consumed immediately.

   

• Adapted from: VegKitchen