Thanks to the magic of Zoom and You Tube, and the dogged creativeness and dedication of our pastors Ann Ralosky and John Rogers, my daughter just completed her Confirmation at our church (congratulations, Quinn!).

In our progressive Christian church, Confirmation is viewed as a coming-of-age, a taking of the reins of one’s own faith, a symbolic moving into the driver’s seat of one’s own journey. Now, she is no longer a child in her faith. At 14, she’s a spiritual adult, with the full responsibility of navigating the world with justice, compassion and integrity. (No easy task.) As a roadmap for this journey, the confirmands studied the Christian scripture called the Beatitudes (pronounced bee-AT-it-toodz).

These days, I’m sorry to say, there are lots of people who twist various scripture passages to justify all sorts of political agendas, usually heavily laced with meanness, frankly. But I’ve noticed that this particular passage is not one that they typically try to contort. How could they, when it elevates and celebrates those who are so often the target of their mean-spirited agendas?

The Beatitudes are from the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus confers blessings in a time of great suffering. He and his fellow Jews were under Roman occupation in their own sacred land. They were oppressed, abused, hurting, and in desperate need of hope. In the midst of this domination, the Beatitudes were subversive, turning the tables to raise up and bless the powerless. And they were also meant as a salve, conferring blessings and hope on people who are struggling and yearning for better times.

Which I realized, as I watched my daughter’s Confirmation service, is all of us right now.

So, I thought I would share them here, in the hopes that they might be a comfort to you, as they were to me during the service:

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

My friend, whatever you’re going through, I wish you blessings for peace and lots of love and kindness. And may we all be a blessing to each other, and to those among us who need it right now.

Dinner and other adventures…

I started out this shutdown time thinking I’d be making breakfast and dinner for our family of four each day (very ambitious!). Then, I thought, my husband could use up our leftovers to make lunch for everyone. But that hasn’t been the way it’s worked out.

Here’s what actually happens:

Breakfast: My teenagers are in full protest at the very notion of having to wake up at any designated time. Since they don’t have to be anywhere in the mornings, they say, they should just get to sleep in until whenever they wake up. My husband persists (bless his heart), but the reality is that the kids are either cranky or missing-in-action most mornings. Trying to organize a regular breakfast mealtime routine in the midst of all of this would be one hassle too many for everyone. So now, everyone makes their own breakfast whenever they get up, and they’re all happy with that. Problem solved!

Lunch: My husband has a short time between conference calls to grab something to eat; sometimes he can squeeze enough time to make something for all four of us, but usually not. So realizing this wasn’t really working, my next idea was that our teenagers should take turns making lunch for everyone. (Brilliant, if I do say so myself!) But that hasn’t really happened either. Their late wake-up time means that they’re not always hungry for lunch at “lunchtime.” Plus, someone needs to give them some direction in order for them to actually make lunch for our family of four. And then someone needs to remind them to take turns doing the lunch dishes afterwards. And all of that reminding has to happen right when my husband and I both need to be focused on our work. So about half the time some one of the four of us will make something and share it with the others; and on the other days, everyone fends for themselves.

Dinner: This is the one meal that I’m committed to making on most days. So if we don’t want to end up eating late, I need to stop working at around 5pm to start making dinner. But on most days, I still have LOTS to do at 5pm! So like just about every household in America, I’m pressed for time at dinner time (newsflash!).

So those pretty roasted carrots and parsnips were my simple side dish with a recent dinner. I can’t remember what I served with them (roast chicken?) but they were colorful and tasty, roasted simply with olive oil, salt and pepper. We have a few left over in the fridge, which I may put a fried egg on top of to eat for some make-your-own breakfast or lunch situation in the next couple of days.

And we got that pretty cake for my daughter’s Confirmation from Montclair Bread Co., one of our fave local bakeries, which has just recently gotten their cake-baking routine back in action. Hooray!

(PS - If you’re new around here, welcome! Adventure Kitchen is a local, small-batch maker of original spice blends and prepared foods, and I’m the founder and chief creator. Separately, I send a weekly email with recipes and cooking suggestions. If you’d like to follow along with that, you can sign up on this page. And if you’d like to support my small business, you can buy our spices online. We ship everywhere of course, and we deliver locally for free!)