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SALTASH AREA CHURCHES

A holy place in Saltash, a holy place for Saltash, and a place
to encounter the holiness of God in Jesus Christ our Lord

Wednesday 29 July

Wednesday 29 July

A Mindful Breakfast

I looked at my plate of a poached egg on toast and a rasher of bacon.

I pictured the hens scratching around in the grass, and prayed that all hens be kept to high welfare standards.

I pictured a field of wheat golden and ripe, and remembered the ploughing, the drilling that went before and the harvesting yet to come, and gave thanks for the work of farmers.

I pictured a field of cows, contentedly ruminating and gave thanks for the tireless work of farm workers who milk twice a day and all year round.

I pictured a field of pigs with their huts so they could retire to the shade when sunny, and prayed that all pigs would be cared for under high welfare conditions.

I thought about the next stages in the process: the harvesting, the sending to a factory for milling and then the making of bread; the taking of the milk to a dairy and so made into butter; the collecting and packaging of eggs; the butchering and preparing of meat. So many people are involved in my breakfast, may God bless them all.

Then each product has to get to the shop or supermarket so it can be bought, the drivers, the warehouse folk, stackers of shelves, the cashiers at the till.

Finally and not least the person who had gone shopping and lovingly cooked my breakfast, who does the things I can no longer do for myself.

I ate with a mindful contentment but with a heightened awareness of how many people are involved in the food chain; how many people we take for granted and gave thanks for them and asked God’s blessing upon them.

Lesley Margetts