Good Friday

Permelia and Madeline, our first duck ladies

 Today is Good Friday, when we mark Jesus’ death and burial. This morning I remember again that the soul's "dark night" is a part of the human condition. I reflect on desperation and despair. My capacity to experience despair is a gift; through it I am transformed. Jesus said, "You must be born again." (John 3:7). The ability to shift from despair to hope is how I get the strength to live life whatever the daily deaths I might face.

Agenda today:

1. Darkness to Hope Meditation

2. Read "Intrinsic Hope"

3. Proaction and reciprocity plans:

4. Dye eggs

5. Bake hot cross buns

1. Darkness to Hope Meditation:

Everyone has periods and circumstances of despair. I remember quite clearly when I was laying in the emergency room on a table, with broken ribs and shoulder, and everyone left, probably to help someone else. I had been strong until then, but during that 45 minutes when I was alone I succumbed to self-pity, pain, and loneliness pretty quickly.

Meditate on that feeling: Remember, for a few minutes, what it's like to be in misery - feeling alone, feeling no connection to Spirit. "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Hold that feeling and take several slow breaths.

Then shift, and remember that you have experienced great joy, and remember that you will again; discover a renewed connection to the Divine. Relax into a feeling of light and hope. Feel a glow slowly fill you, as dawn fills the sky, and then extend light to family, to friends, to neighbors, to strangers, and to all others who are in darkness now. 

2. Read "Intrinsic Hope":

I'm just starting this book by Kate Davies (2018), with the subtitle, Living courageously in troubled times. She talks about what she calls the global eco-social crisis, and how everything is interconnected: biodiversity loss, habitat destruction, climate disruption, invasive species, pollution, overpopulation, over harvesting, agricultural and lumber practices, housing and infrastructure, water scarcity, poverty, unemployment, fascism and racism - all the environmental problems and their social, cultural, and economic contexts.

"Uncovering and nurturing a realistic sense of hope is very challenging because it means we we must stay open to both the unthinkable - a future that seems too terrifying to contemplate - and what may be impossible - preventing global eco-social disaster. ... Intrinsic hope is a deep, abiding trust in whatever happens and in the human capacity to respond to it positively." 

She says the first step is to name our feelings, and so chapter one is Naming Our Feelings about the Global Eco-social Crisis. If we do not name them we cannot do anything about them; name them to tame them. Also, sharing our feelings creates space for discussion.

3. Proaction and reciprocity plans:

On Fridays I often journal a bit about the future, and my dreams and goals: What GREAT things do I want to accomplish? How will I serve people? How will I use my talents? How will I stretch myself? How can I become an “island of excellence”? What is essential?

Then I try to define achievable, meaningful goals and prioritize the goals and tasks with the greatest long-term impact.

In the next week I hope to:

• Post our plant list to the website, and make QR code to link it.
• Write an agenda for the Earth-care Meeting that includes a discussion of a tree walk, plans for a climate cafe and ceremony, and a social time for team members.
• Host a plant give-away
• Meet with the EC group and review our discussion of the Clean Water bill. Begin to visualize next steps we want to take this summer to advocate against the climate and biodiversity loss crisis: Focus on forests? Climate cafe?
• Send out the EC action news, with information about regenerative gardening.
• Think about how to talk about native habitat with neighbors.
• Go on a walk just to pick up plastic trash.

4. Dye eggs:

We are also going to dye eggs today! Eggs universally symbolize birth and potential. For Christians, at Easter, eggs stand for hope and spiritual rebirth. Eggs are part of the spring celebrations of people all over the world. It is a fact of science that wild bird eggs are laid only after the eye of the female bird is stimulated by more than twelve hours of light per day, which doesn’t happen until springtime approaches.

Tumeric = gold, onion skins = red-orange, red cabbage = moss green.

The people of long ago noticed the connection between eggs and warmer days, and so the egg became a symbol of spring. Folks began to color and pattern eggs, and trade them during their spring festivals. They may have thought that eggs were a charm that helped the sun to grow warmer.

Check out this post to see recipes for natural egg dyes, how to make confetti eggs, and how to dye pysanky eggs.

5. Bake hot cross buns:

The hot cross bun is probably the oldest of the many English buns. It was originally eaten only on Good Friday. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries street cries were commonly heard on Good Friday:

"Hot cross buns, hot cross buns, 

One a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns!”

You are supposed to keep one bun all year to insure that all the bread you bake is perfect (and as a charm against shipwreck). 

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 c. milk
• 3-1/2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 4-1/2 c. bread flour (or all purpose) 
• 3 tsp. instant or rapid rise yeast (1-1/2 packets)
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. each nutmeg and allspice
• 1/4 tsp. cloves
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 egg
• 1-1/2 c. sultanas or dried cranberries
• zest from 1 - 2 oranges

Crosses, glaze, frosting:

• 
  1/2 cup white flour
• 5 Tbsp. water
• 1 Tbsp. apricot jam
• 2 tsp. water
• powdered sugar frosting (optional)

Yield: 1-dozen buns-

1- Warm the milk and melt the butter, then leave to cool. Place 4-1/4 c. of the flour, and the yeast, sugar, spices, and salt in a stand-mixer bowl. Briefly mix with a dough hook.

2- Add melted butter, warmed milk, egg, sultanas and zest. Mix until a smooth elastic dough forms - about 5 minutes on Speed 2 of standmixer. After 1 minute, add an extra 1/4 c. of flour if required, just enough so dough comes away from side of bowl when mixing and doesn't stick to your fingers. Do a window-pane test to see if the dough is kneaded enough - it should stretch without breaking.

3- Leave the dough in the bowl, cover with cling wrap and place in a warm place to rise until doubled in size, 1 to 1-1/2 hours.

4- Line a 9 x 13" tray with baking paper that overhangs the edges. Remove cling wrap and punch the dough down.

Dust board with flour, dump out the dough, and shape into a log. Cut into 12 equal pieces.

5- Take one piece, press flattish, then use your fingers to gather into a ball, and roll the dough briefly to smooth. (This stretches the dough on one side giving a nice smooth surface. Place the ball with the smooth side up on the tray. Repeat with remaining dough, lining them up 3 x 4.

6- Spray a piece of cling wrap lightly with oil, then loosely place over the pan. Return to a warm place and let rise for 30 - 45 minutes (less than double in size).

7- Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix flour and water for the crosses into a runny paste (not too thick or it will bake hard). Spoon into a piping bag or small ziplock bag, then snip corner. 

8- Remove the cling wrap and slowly pipe crosses onto the buns. Bake for 22 minutes, or until the surface is a deep golden brown. 

9- Place jam and water in a small saucepan over low, to melt for the glaze. 

Remove buns from oven. Use overhang to lift buns onto a cooling rack. Brush with jam mixture while warm, and frost if desired.