Sowing Hope

Two busloads of Episcopalians from the Diocese of Fort Worth left Trinity Church's parking lot at 1 p.m. today to travel to Dallas to see the presiding bishop at St. Thomas the Apostle.

In addition to the people on the buses, there were others who came as individuals from Fort Worth, as well as twenty from Granbury and fifteen from Wichita Falls. Not bad for a Monday afternoon. Many more wanted to come but could not get off work.

We all wore these identifying badges to erase any doubt about why we were there.

Katharine was there to bless St. Thomas' new community garden. They are "growing food to fight hunger where we live." The garden was an outgrowth of their commitment to the Millennium Development goals.

Read the Dallas Morning News story and watch the video here.

It started last May with a group of people wanting to do something with the vacant lot the church owned next to their parking lot.

People starting donating time, money and equipment and now two large pantry plots are growing food to be donated to the North Dallas Shared Ministries and the Resource Center of Dallas. Gardeners in 16 private plots are growing food for themselves with a promise to donate 10 percent to local food banks.

The garden is beautifully laid out and promises bumper crops this summer.

Those of us from Fort Worth came not only to celebrate the new garden, but also to see and hear Katharine. We needed to feed a different hunger, one for connection to the larger church, and for reassurance that we won't be forgotten.

Katharine delivered on both counts. The liturgy blessing the garden was lovely and well done, and her remarks and answers to questions at the reception that followed were handled with her usual calm gracefulness.

We give thanks for the wonderful hospitality of the people of St. Thomas, and for their outreach to the hungry.

And we give thanks for Katharine's leadership.

Many seeds were sown today, seeds that will feed many kinds of hunger.