I love being outside, digging in the dirt, planting and watching things grow. Even though I pastored for over 20 years I've always felt closest to God in his great outdoors. When we had orchards I reveled in the apple harvest, walking the rows, eating crisp apples, checking bins, punching picker tickets, shivering on chilly October mornings. Now that we live in Fairfield I find all kinds of excuses to be outside so I can admire piles cloud sculptures, hearty mums, scarlet maples.

Confronted with problems I pray “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.” Only recently, I've started praying those same words in gratitude, recognizing that I am always surrounded by so many blessings, things, people, and opportunities that our outside of my control. I've discovered shifting my attitude to one of gratitude makes a radical difference in how I approach problems and that generally occurs when I work in the garden, transplant some house plants, take a walk, watch a sunset. I am reminded when outdoor that the world and God are far bigger than me and that I really have little control over anything other than my own attitude and response.

This summer my cousin's blueberry bushes outdid themselves, producing a bumper crop that far exceeded the pick-your-own crowd that generally strips his plants of luscious fruit. So mid August when he offered the excess berries to SCCAP gleaners for the food pantry, we jumped at the chance. Each foray resulted in buckets of sweet berries. Basking in orcharded hillsides, the soft summer sun and gentle breezes, we'd come home sticky with berry juice, but at peace. Whatever concerns we brought to the blueberry patch got left there. I find something profoundly spiritual about being outdoors, connecting with the land and our creator, seeing how I fit into the infinite whole.

Pippenfest weekend Matt Battersby's law office set up Honest Abe's Root Beer Stand as a fund raiser for the Fairfield Food Pantry. Much of their motivation came from learning that hunger in Adams County is not going away. Almost 50% of our county school children qualify for free breakfasts and lunches! The majority of the folks using the 8 SCCAP Food Banks and other church related food pantries are seniors on social security, folks on disability, the unemployed. or those working minimum wage jobs. There are precious few “free loaders” critics like to highlight. In fact, many here in Adams County go hungry rather than ask for help!

It is no accident that the SCCAP gleaners, county growers, and others who so generously donate food, time and dollars to our local food banks are people who feel a part of nature. I suspect God created us that way, as we seem to become more centered, more serene, more open to life and love when we connect with nature. Our consciousness actually expands when we experience ourselves as a small, but loved part of an immense whole. This awareness motivates us to take better care of this wonderful world God has so graciously given us. It is critical that we become compassionate and concerned about social and environmental distress because our very being depends on it.