Grace Enough

I walked into the kitchen to prepare myself some lunch. I opened the refrigerator and took out the rice, chicken & vegetable stir-fry leftover from last night's dinner. As I put it in the microwave to reheat, I took a deep breath. With Vacation Bible School over, we still need to put the church back in working order for Sunday worship. Meanwhile, it's just a little over one week until I leave for a week of camp, which I am directing. So much to do!

The microwave beeps. I take the food out of the microwave and sit down to eat. I'm at the table, by myself, and it's both relaxing and lonely. I begin to eat, without saying grace, contemplating instead all that I need to do in the next few days.

Tomorrow, I have a meeting in Santa Cruz, a 3-hour drive one-way. My wife really wants to go tonight and spend the night, and so we now have camping reservations and plans to spend some time at the boardwalk after the meeting. I didn't think I really wanted to go, because of all I have to do. I slept horribly last night, anxiety keeping me awake. I think, if I can work hard enough, I'll get enough done so that my anxiety will go away. My wife thinks, if we can relax a little bit this weekend, the anxiety will go away. I think my wife is right. So in a few hours, we're off.

I finish eating my lunch. I look at the bowl, just a few pieces of rice left in it. I begin thinking about that rice. It comes from the Farmer's Rice Co-op, here in the Sacramento Valley. The chicken and the vegetables, I think, also come from somewhere here in California. How many people worked so I could have this lunch? I wonder. Farmers, truck drivers, store employees....

I lift the bowl up and look underneath. On the bottom, it says, "responsibly made in China for Ben & Jerry's." I look at the chopsticks. (Chopsticks are cool, don't you think?) These ones we ordered from the SERRV catalog a few years back. They were made, I think, in Vietnam. I am amazed at all the people to whom I am connected, simply by eating my chicken and rice. I contemplate these things, find myself grateful, thankful, and a little more peaceful, and I realize that, perhaps, that is grace enough.