Monday August 10, 2020
Brad Lown
Nourish
Many of you know Bob and Sue Nalewajk. For years they have been regularly cooking and helping out at the Common Table, and during the pandemic, they’ve been cooking out of their home and serving packaged meals at the drive through Common Table in the Church parking lot. Over the years they have fed, and nourished, thousands of people, as Jesus did with the loaves and fishes at Bethsaida. In so doing, they have no doubt spiritually nourished themselves.
At various times in our life, we need to be nourished. At other times we are the nourishers, taking care of other people. We take comfort, satisfaction and solace in both roles. A healthy life is one that finds a good balance between the two - nourishing and being nourished. How many parents have become drained and beleaguered by devoting all their energies to nourishing the people around them? In order to have the capacity to nourish others, we need to nourish ourselves, and there’s nothing selfish about seeking rest and treating yourself to something you enjoy or that sustains you.
My grandmother was a great nourisher. When we visited her she would take us to the local bakery to get pies, cakes and muffins. She cooked juicy roast beef. She read books to my sisters and me. She wrote me letters when I was at summer camp, and she played Ragtime on the piano while we I danced around the room. And what did I do for her when I was a child? I’d like to think I nourished her by loving her. Looking back, I can’t think of many things she did to nourish herself, and she was probably not well nourished by my grandfather.
May we all find a good balance between nourishing and being nourished, and let’s be thankful for the Nalewajks in our community. May they nourish themselves.