Protecting peace

reflections at the start of summer

Good morning bread friends!

I’m excited to be at the start of another summer break :)

Yesterday was the last day of 1st grade and 3rd grade for my kids. I can’t believe how much time is flying by.

Not always… but often times the summer is a little slower for bakeries. I presume that is because people are busier with summer activities and vacations. For some people I’m sure they’re (consciously or unconsciously) being more selective about what sorts of foods they're consuming during "bathing suit season.

I can appreciate the wisdom of being more intentional about what you’re consuming.

For me that doesn’t involve any reduction in sourdough bread consumption… but I think it does seem wise to pause and reflect on what information I’m consuming.

Or perhaps what I’m aiming for is to be more intentional about what information I’m dedicating energy towards.

There is so much going on in the world and in our country right now. So much so that one might be forgiven for feeling paralyzed about what to do about it.

If over the course of a week I read about the erosion of free speech protection, people being disappeared, universities under attack, family separations, the clean water act being gutted, war crimes, our air being unsafe to breath, police killing unarmed civilians, defunding of public education, the military invading American cities, and federal defunding of food banks… I for one can feel more than a little bit of overwhelm regarding where to direct my outrage.

Don’t get me wrong… I certainly don’t have any interest in seeking my own peace by simply looking away from injustices. But I do want to reclaim my time and energy by being more decisive about what I’m going to apply emotional energy towards.

So instead of re-reading and just stewing over a Supreme Court Justice’s brilliant dissent regarding the Supreme Court’s decision to refuse legal protections in this country for immigrants… perhaps I’m going to ask myself if there is something I can do about this issue within my sphere of influence.

For many issues the answer will be - no, not really.

In which case, in an attempt to be more decisive about which injustices are consuming my energy… my 4 step process will be to do the following: 1) pray that this injustice stops, 2) ask myself who do I know that is working on this issue that I can send a word of encouragement to 3) quickly determine if I’m going to shortlist this issue as one that I want to donate money to 4) get back to applying my energy towards issues where I’m confident that I know specifically how I want to be of service.

Anyway…. thanks for reading along as I process my thoughts in writing. I’m just reflecting on how to remain mentally healthy while caring deeply for fellow humans.

To be sure… this doesn’t impact anything for Bread & Justice’s commitment to selecting organizations to donate our profits to each month that are working towards a more just society.

If you made it this far, I suspect you’re a long time reader of Bread & Justice newsletters. Thanks for being here. 🤗

Regardless of how long you’ve been a reader… as a part of this community, I’d invite you to share if you have any routines or practices for protecting your mental health while continuing to acknowledge the injustices of the world.

Thanks for being awesome.

Cheers,
Mo

P.S. Don’t forget to order bread today ;)