Thank you to all who came out to the FWAFWC Evans Avenue Plaza Marketplace on Saturday. We certainly thank you for your purchases of truly local produce. Most importantly, thank you for your prayers and support for Opal’s Farm and our mission – Building vibrant local communities through regenerative urban farming, faithful gathering, and lasting fellowship.We are so thankful to Dione Sims and the Fort Worth Association of Federated Women’s Clubs for inviting us to be a part of the festivities.
Evans Avenue Plaza Marketplace
I also need to offer a huge thank you to the Paschal High School Key Club members who came out early Saturday morning to Opal’s Farm to volunteer their time and energy. They’ve become “regulars” at the farm. I can’t tell you what a help this is going into the winter! They mulched walkways, weeded, and cleaned up the Summer and Fall beds so they can be prepped for Spring! Thanks so much for all you do for Opal’s Farm!
I must apologize for my miscommunication about our Race Street market this Saturday. I marked the calendar for the evening, and it was during the day while we were at Evans Ave. However, the good news is that we will be at the Race Street Holiday Open Street next Saturday form 11am-5pm. We’ll be set up next to the Tributary Café. We can’t wait to see you all.
Finally, I want to extend an invitation to each of you to drop by the farm. We’d love to show you what we’re growing! We are blessed with a little oasis with Downtown Fort Worth for our backdrop!
I celebrate fifteen years clean today, it’s World AIDS Day, and it falls on Giving Tuesday this year. The stars aligned to grant a day of lightness at the end of a onerous year. I hit the Trifecta! My Advent meditation yesterday was about the intersections in life – those places we encounter strangers, friends, family, and most importantly, God. I am deeply grateful for the intersections in life that brought me to this day.
Today’s meditation was about choices; especially how we choose to see the world. Fifteen years ago, I had a moment of clarity in the darkness around me. I had a choice – stay in the darkness or venture out into the light. The world (or at least my perception of it) has changed dramatically since then.
I’m not foolish enough to say, “Look what I did!”. I didn’t do squat. My previous intersections with people should have left me where I was. Yet, it was those same people who surrounded me with love until I could fully realize the gift of grace – theirs and God’s…
People familiar with the disease of addiction know what I’m talking about. Those that aren’t can’t appreciate the value of “a new set of glasses”. There are times I share my recovery epiphanies only to have people look at me and silently say, “Duh”. It took me a long time to become aware, to grow up. I just hope and pray that everyone appreciates the depth of God’s grace. I hope that your “grace moment” was gentler than mine.
Addiction has consequences. Mine was AIDS. The bad choices I made became physically evident on April 17, 2006. I was devasted and extremely fearful. Today is different. I’ve chosen to be public about my status despite the stigma that still exists. Secrets die in the light. I always find it ironic that my clean date fell on World AIDS Day.
It’s become more of a chronic disease rather than the death sentence I believed to be initially. My wife tells me we are a “magnet couple” – she’s negative and I’m positive. However, UNAIDS reports that globally, almost a million people died from AIDS-related illness in 2019. Moreover, there were as many as 220 million new AIDS infections in 2019. Those number get lost with the current coronavirus pandemic and lowered fear of the disease culturally. It hasn’t gone away folks!
I get to celebrate Giving Tuesday today as well. Fifteen years ago, I wouldn’t have even heard of “Giving” Tuesday. I knew about “taking” and that certainly wasn’t limited to one day a week. Today I understand the importance and true value of giving. That doesn’t simply mean money (although I’m going to ask you to donate to Unity Unlimited. Inc. and Opal’s Farm in a bit!). It means being present and serving our community and one another.
I’ve been blessed to be surrounded by people who believe in service to their community. They’ve shown me the joy that comes from being a servant and helped me experience it myself. I am incredibly fortunate to work at Opal’s Farm and practice servanthood each day. What we do – the produce we grow, the food we provide – is serving our local community and helping end food insecurity one vegetable at a time.
We can’t do it alone. We depend on the help of our community to expand and grow and serve even more folks. That’s where “the ask” comes in! Please celebrate Giving Tuesday and this Holiday season by giving a gift to Unity Unlimited, Inc. Cash donations are not the only way to give and to serve. Maybe it’s your time and energy (we LOVE our volunteers!) at the farm our with Unity’s other programs (Secret Santa is upon us y’all!) and Juneteenth. Maybe it’s just coming by the farm to say hello or purchase our tasty, healthy produce. Whatever you can do is truly appreciated – on this Giving Tuesday!
Advent wasn’t recognized as a season in the religious tradition I grew up in. I was always taught Christmas was a secular holiday since the Bible didn’t name Jesus’ birthday. God knows we didn’t want to be adding to the Good Book. I knew little of the Advent season or the liturgical calendar many Christian denominations celebrate. Shoot, I didn’t even know what Advent was until I married a woman from a different Christian tradition.
My journey with Jesus has taken a different course as I’ve grown older. The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas has always been a reflective time for me. Advent makes it especially so. The word “Advent” comes from the Latin word adventus meaning “coming” – a translation of the Greek word parausia. In turn, parausia denotes a coming, arrival, or physical presence. Most of Christendom thinks of it as the Second Coming of Jesus. I prefer to focus on the first coming, the birth of Emmanuel – “God is with us”.
This year will not go on my Top Ten List of favorites. I lost my son, Jeremy, in May. COVID found its way to our home. Margaret is still suffering the long-term effects even though her symptoms were relegated to her oxygen levels and none of the other ones. We count ourselves blessed in that regard. Many of our friends have experienced the loss of loved ones due to COVID. The pandemic has wreaked havoc on the economy causing so much anxiety and stress. More devastating is the emotional damage it’s caused.
Moreover, the social fabric seems broken almost beyond repair. The divisiveness, hatefulness, systemic racism, and social injustice feel unsurmountable. The election may be over, but the selfish narcissism of the orange-haired baby currently in the White House seeks to destroy anything that may benefit the incoming administration. Even more troubling is the fact that so many of his followers chose untruths over reality. Communication lines are non-existent, and fear runs rampant. This year has made hope feel out of reach.
Advent is more important than ever in 2020. It’s the reminder that God is indeed with us even in the brokenness and pain. Advent allows me to look backward: to acknowledge the hurt, the pain, and my shortcomings that holds God at bay. It reminds me of my own powerlessness without God with me. It opens my eyes and my heart to the God that has been there through all of it
It certainly doesn’t feel like it at times, but Advent reminds me that feelings are not reality. This Advent season I hope and pray for the recognition of God’s presence right here, right now. I pray for the constant reminder that God is with us – plural. If God is with you, I pray for the vision to see God in my fellows.
“If God is for us then who can be against us?” Romans 8.31
Note: I discovered a great resource for this season of Advent –
Honestly, I should have been posting and building up to this coming Thursday since the first of September. It’s been so busy at Opal’s Farm getting the Fall crops in that the 17th almost flew by me! Why this important? Because this Thursday, 9-17-20, is North Texas Giving Day. It’s a special day set aside for giving to local non-profits serving the North Texas community. This year is especially important.
At Opal’s Farm our mission – Building vibrant local communities through regenerative urban farming, faithful gathering, and lasting fellowship – is even more vital during these uncertain times. Food insecurity and access to healthy, nutritious food is difficult in normal times, but the coronavirus has made life far from normal.
On this special North Texas Giving Day you have an opportunity to make a difference right here in Fort Worth. Your donation to Unity Unlimited, Inc/Opal’s Farm on North Texas Giving Day will be matched dollar for dollar; providing fresh, locally grown produce for more of your neighbors. Please give what you can this Thursday, 9-17-20.
Go to www.northtexasgivingday.org and look for Unity Unlimited, Inc to donate. Early giving is now open. Thank you for supporting Unity Unlimited, Inc. and Opal’s Farm!
gregoryjoel.com 