Reclaiming Community

Today I went on a harvest with a church group for a special Sunday service worship. We went to a property with 110 trees...an incredible number! (For reference, on a normal harvest day we might harvest 5-7 trees. We also had a group about three times larger than usual, but that still does not compare to a normal day.)

As I talk with more people about what Iskashitaa does, I continually have conversations about how even one tree produces so much more fruit than one family can use. Even families who share with their neighbors still have an abundance of fruit. It was the same when I was growing up and we had a garden; my dad would take tomatoes and corn to work and to various friends' homes, but we still had more than we could ever use.

I wonder if the way food grows naturally indicates something about the way we were intended to live. One fruit tree produces far more fruit than one person or even one family could consume. It seems they were made to feed communities rather than individuals. This isn't reflected in our grocery stores today. While we can buy in bulk, most items come individually packaged and meant for only one person or one family. We've become isolated and closed off, and I think it robs us of relationships.

It feels so much more natural and right to pick fruit in the sun with friends and neighbors than to pick it off the shelf, alone, under the harsh lighting of a grocery store. Harvesting fruit to me feels like reclaiming community.