Spirituality of Food

First Unitarian Universalist Church
August 26, 2007
Spirituality of Food
Rev. Sandra Fees
Page 1 of 4
© 2007, Rev. Sandra Fees
Excerpts may be quoted with attribution.
Earlier this month, a group of neighbors, city officials, and a few others
including Channel 69 News gathered late on a Friday afternoon to
dedicate Amanda’s Garden and Courtyard. Amanda’s Garden, named
for nearby Amanda Stoudt Elementary and located on South 10th Street,
is a community garden.
It is part of the Berks County Conservancy’s program, Berks Urban Greening whose acronym is
BUG. BUG transforms vacant lots into community green space. Local residents grow their own
vegetables, herbs, and flowers while also working cooperatively, improving their family’s health
and nutrition, building community spirit, and also providing attractive green space in an urban
area.
The individual gardens are well tended. The evening of the dedication, the whole area was
bursting with color. Plump red and yellow tomatoes, green beans, yellow and green squash,
banana peppers, and even an orange pumpkin beginning to swell. Bees hovered on bright
flowers.
We had to walk through the bountiful plots and through an arbor to reach the courtyard at the
back of the garden where we gathered for the dedication. The neighbors had just recently built
the courtyard. There they had laid bricks and gotten a picnic table so that they would have a
place to come together for neighborhood meetings, and simply a place to sit down together to
chat.
Designed into the brick were two mosaics of the badge numbers of Reading City police officers
Scott Wertz and Michael Wise Both officers were killed in recent years in the line of duty. The
space was being dedicated in their honor and also as a tribute to all the city officers who have
given their lives to keep others safe.
I was invited to offer a prayer of dedication. I don’t live in that neighborhood, but my husband
has been working with the neighbors at Amanda’s Garden as part of his community-building
work. I think you can see how I ended up there.
Their garden, like this space, is a sanctuary, a haven for those who enter. It is a place to grow
food and flowers, but it is not only about consuming the food. A community garden, like a
church, can nourish the spirit. It is also a place to grow souls. The neighbors at Amanda’s Garden
have designed a space that does both.
The garden affirms what we instinctively know. Food is the very stuff of life. It creates life – it
ministers to both our spirits and our bodies.
That is also why food is central to religions the world over and why we use it in worship and
religious practices. From festivals for harvest and planting times to communion, from prayers at
meal time to church social hour, from fasting to keeping kosher, food is a vital part of the life of
faith.
Spirituality of Food (cont’d.)
Rev. Sandra Fees
Page 2 of 4
© 2007, Rev. Sandra Fees
Excerpts may be quoted with attribution.
The principal act of worship of Roman Catholics, the Eastern Orthodox, and some Protestant
denominations is Holy Communion. Bread and wine are used liturgically in a sacred communal
meal representing the Last Supper of the disciples with Jesus.
Different Christian traditions have different theological understandings of the bread and wine. In
some, these elements are believed to become the actual body and blood of Christ. In others, the
wine and bread are used as a remembrance. Communion, with its multiple meanings, points to
the death of Christ as a cornerstone event in Christianity.
In Judaism, food has had a significant role in reinforcing community and religious identity.
Historically, maintaining strict dietary rules has helped keep Jewish people together. The
exacting rules for food preparation make it a near necessity for observant Jews to eat, live and
marry within the faith.
The basic rules apply to killing and eating animals and other conscious life, but not to plants. The
regulation that most of us are most familiar with is the prohibition against pork. But when it comes
to eating animals, the guideline is that the animal must have a split hoof and chew the cud. This
permits sheep and cattle to be eaten, for example, but excludes horses and swine. The rules applying
to sea creatures require they have fins and scales, while birds of prey and insects are banned.
Beyond what may be consumed, there are rules about how meat must be prepared and which foods
may be eaten together. A traditional observant Jewish family would be likely to have two sets of pots
and pans in order to comply with all the requirements.
Today, the observance of the Jewish dietary laws varies considerably. Some Jewish people
continue to adhere to the original laws, while others limit themselves to not eating pork (Many
Peoples, Many Faiths, Robert Ellwood and Barbara McGraw).
In the Muslim tradition, fasting is central to religious practice. It is so important that it is among
the five pillars of Islam and provides a test of faith.
During the month of Ramadan all healthy adults fast. Individuals maintain the fast during
sunlight hours from dawn to sunset. While fasting, adherents devote their attention to reflection
and prayer. In particular, individuals remember and respond to the needs of the poor and hungry.
At night, family and friends dine together, read aloud from the Quran, and pray. On the 27th day,
the Day of Power is observed. This is the day when Mohammed first received the divine
revelation of the Quran. Ramadan ends with a celebratory Feast of the Breaking of the Fast – Id
al-Fitr (Islam: The Straight Path, John Esposito).
In Unitarian Universalism, we do something a little different. We identify an ethical position that
is as unique as any religious practices associated with food. In our principles, we affirm “respect
for the interdependent web of all existence.” In his essay, “The Heart of a Faith for the Twentyfirst
Century,” Rev. David Bumbaugh calls it a “radical theological position.”
Spirituality of Food (cont’d.)
Rev. Sandra Fees
Page 3 of 4
© 2007, Rev. Sandra Fees
Excerpts may be quoted with attribution.
He writes, “The seventh principle represents our peculiar contribution to the religious agenda ….
[It] calls us to reverence before the world, not some future world, but this miraculous world of
our everyday experience.” (in UU World, Spring 2007)
Food is sacred because it is part of our everyday experience. It is central to our daily lives and
represents kinship with all life. The food we eat or don’t eat can impact our physical health. It
can kill us or restore us. The decisions we make about food have ethical implications for our
personal health and well-being – and that of our families. They also have implications for the rest
of life on the planet.
That is why our food choices matter. That is why it matters whether we eat a Twinkie or an
organically grown peach, whether we eat foods grown locally or shipped from Florida, whether
we buy and serve organic fair trade coffee or drink a liter of soda.
The seventh principle, however, doesn’t tell us which items to eat or not to eat. Instead, our
religion tries to help us develop awareness without trying to make our choices for us. For
example, not everyone can afford to eat organic or fresh foods or do well on a vegan or
vegetarian diet.
While I strive to adhere to a vegetarian diet, I also eat a bit of fish and seafood. I love the fresh
produce available at this time of year – tomatoes and corn and zucchini. I also eat potato chips
and peanut butter cups.
My own attitude toward food is that there are a number of ethical approaches to eating. What
seems most needed is food that fills the body and the spirit – not just for you or me – but for
everyone. So that no one goes hungry – physically or spiritually.
Amy Hassinger says in her article “Ethical Eating”:
When you can open your refrigerator and imagine the face of the farmer who raised the
cows that gave your milk and butter, or who picked the asparagus in your crisper, there’s
a unique sense of satisfaction, of knowing that the system you’re supporting is healthy –
not only for you and your family, but for your community and for the planet. This is
connection, this is intimacy with the interdependent web, and, at the very least, this is an
excellent step toward a food system that respects the complexity and fragility of the
natural world. (UU World)
This is what the children have been learning about in their Farm to Fork program these last few
weeks. Visiting the West Reading farmer’s market, learning about local produce, purchasing
peaches and zucchini, they have been on a journey of learning more about how food makes it
onto the table – and how many lives are touched in the process.
They are also learning how much fun it can be to interact with fresh food items – whether they
are making homemade ice cream or creating characters our of vegetables. These activities bring
them directly into a relationship with the various people and places touched by their food
choices.
Spirituality of Food (cont’d.)
Rev. Sandra Fees
Page 4 of 4
© 2007, Rev. Sandra Fees
Excerpts may be quoted with attribution.
Our food connects us to each other and all life. The foods we buy, serve, and consume all bring
us into relationship with other people, other places, and other creatures. When we open the
refrigerator this week, I hope each of us will pause to imagine all the things and people who are
part of the butter on the shelf and the lettuce in the crisper.
Amen.