This past week has been a great one, probably one that I will probably remember for the rest of my life. It was a week that consisted of fun games, raw emotions, and intimate conversations. Visiting Baltimore with a totally new group of people added an unexpected layer to the trip that helped me reground my ideals and beliefs. I am extremely grateful that I had the opportunity to come back and be one of the TAs for the Food, Faith, and Justice in Baltimore class. I received the opportunity to connect with people from both new and familiar community organizations that are doing wonderful work to combat food insecurity in the city of Baltimore. I also received the opportunity to connect with friends and family, while developing new friendships with my peers.
One of the highlights on the trip for me was attending church service at the renown Liberty Grace Church of God. The elder who delivered a powerful sermon preached about the story of Elisabeth and Mary, two cousins who were visited by the angel Gabriel, and were told that they would soon give birth to special children. On one hand there was Elizabeth who was past the normal age to have a baby, but was told that she would give birth to child named John. John would be the one “to prepare the people for their Lord”. On the other hand, Mary was a virgin, but was told that she would give birth to a child named Jesus. Jesus would be the “Promise”, the one that “The Lord God will give… the throne” to. Despite these unusual circumstances, both women endured, trusted the power of God, and soon became pregnant, each with their own child. When the two cousins met up after being pregnant, Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting and felt John kick in her stomach. The two women recognized the extraordinary connection and became filled with the Holy Spirit. The elder would then go on to emphasize the importance of the moment when the prepared meets the promise. She noted that when this marvelous event occurs, the impossible can happen. To me this further highlights the importance of controlling only what you can control, having faith in God, living a virtuous life and staying prepared for what He has in store for you no matter how hard times get.
After hearing the message, I then reflected on the conversation the class had the day previous day with Dr. Heber Brown and the Black Church Food Security Network. We discussed the principal role of interdependence in the community and the world, noting that it is a collective effort by people to find solutions to major problems, offering one’s individual resources to benefit the whole community. After reflecting on the week and the community organizations that we visited, I now realize that interdependence serves as a bridge between the prepared and the promise. Through interdependence we are working to prepare ourselves to achieve the promise. The promise being living in a community where all people have access to nutrient rich foods. Whether it is through national and local policy, agriculture and gardening, forestry, faith, direct meal service, networks, education, and/or food and meal donation, we are constantly relying on one another to shatter the systemic injustices around food insecurity in Baltimore. We have to continue to keep the faith, finding new and innovative ways to break the chains that are depriving our community of its basic human rights.