WWLB? (what would lydia buy?)

2/5/2015

As we've been settling into our neighborhood, we've bumped ethical organic local shopping up to the next level. it's great. it's expensive. we're conflicted. but it's good.

As we've been experimenting with ethical organic local affordable and hospitality, I found myself asking "What would Jesus buy?" But the answer is mostly: nothing. Jesus lived for three years off hospitality: multiplying bread and fish and making his own wine out of water with zero overhead. So that question doesn't work.

What came to mind then was this extravagant merchant of purple cloth in Philippi. She had a small business and invited people into her home. She had a sustainable way of living that she could invite others into. Granted, she met Paul and not Jesus - but it was people like Lydia who made the Jesus-way possible when Jesus was here and after.

So, my new question is: what would Lydia buy?

I'm hoping to find some other smart women trying to juggle local, organic, ethical, fair trade - but I don't know where it came from, generous, hospitable, practical, affordable, and just plain getting a family by in a rough economy to share ideas, experiences, conflictedness, places we have to settle, triumphs etc. To be Lydia, we need to know what other Lydias are up to and how we can work together!
Are you interested in being a part of this? Let me know!

8 Comments

Rebecca Joy Sumner

i am a christian. pastor. liturgist. abolitionist. wife. neighbor. church planter. writer (ish). theologian (ish). artist (ish). and basically just someone who playfully clings to this radical thing called hope. specifically, hope that God's commonwealth of love and justice to come more and more with every new day.

Vangie link

2/5/2015 02:35:39 am

When I lived in Olympia, it was easier to shop ethically. The Food Co-op is a social focal point for the town. If you were a working member (volunteer), you got 25% off your purchases. If you were low income, it was an additional 10%
When I moved to Seattle for seminary, shopping ethically seems to be tied into economic privilege.
As a pastor, I deliberately choose ethical things when I must purchase them for church. For me personally, it's off and on.

Donna M. link

2/5/2015 05:00:16 am

*This* is an intersection of ethics, that I can honestly say I consider every single day - but then, I generally obsess about these/many things. For me, I'm increasingly considering food not only as calories needed for sustenance, or comfort, but also as having preventive or healing elements, hence the organic - along with the ethics concerns, hence the fair trade, and of course, the ever-present economic realm, which extends the conversation substantially. Dovetailing these as 'being our bro/sis keeper' and therefore essential, is well, complicated.

Stacey Nicholas

2/6/2015 11:21:54 am

I live in rural, Northeast Missouri; in a town of less than 2000 full-time residents. I do not have a green thumb. I purchase fresh summer produce from another woman who makes extra money for her family by growing a garden. I pay her $20 and get a box each week. My struggle is that we do not always like the items in the box and I have to find someone to give them to or they go to waste. I avoid buying any new clothing (except underclothing). There are plenty of thrift stores and many of them support other ministries with their proceeds. I look for stores ran by community groups and volunteers. I have started to grow some small vegetables, such as lettuce and peas. I am still a horrid farmer. I shop locally instead of driving 45 minutes to the "city" where there are larger box stores. It does mean that the selectoin is always less, bu't that is ok. I live in a school district where 65% of the kids are on free or reduced lunches. A community of us created a weekend food program and a summer food program for them with all the work and money raised locally. The conflict is that to get the most food for our meager money, we HAVE to shop at a big box store in the city.

rebecca

2/6/2015 11:27:00 am

Thanks for sharing Stacey! I don't think you and I are connected on Facebook - but I sent a message to Donna and Vangie among others today about being a part of a blog of women writing about these struggles...btw totally feel you on not liking a lot of what comes in the boxes!
would you be interested in being a part of that?

Laurel Ragland

2/19/2015 02:42:59 am

Intererested. Yes it is a struggle. Liiving in a smaller town in Oklahoma. I end up buying a lot online and have concerns about that but I have health issues that limit shopping. Convenience, cost, and need end up taking precedence. Farmers market in summer, ebay for clothes. Not many local choices and WalMart becomes the default.

2/20/2015 06:21:42 am

Hi Laurel,
Yeah...I've always lived in a metropolitan coastal area. It's easy to say never Walmart when there are lots of alternatives to Walmart.
I'd love your voice in this conversation when we launch a website and facebook group. email me if you'd be interested in contributing: rebeccajoysumner (at) gmail (dot) com

Terri Davis

2/19/2015 12:31:25 pm

I love this idea. I certainly buy when I can. We transferred to a small town for work reasons. Nothing, except locally grown farmers market. Big Walmart. Coming from a larger city, there was some fair market. We turned our backyard into a garden and we love the challenge of organic gardening. I am on a very tight budget but would love to buy more fair trade products and whole foods as financial circumstances will improve.

2/20/2015 06:25:10 am

Thanks Terri!
It's really true "I buy when I can." And then there's those tough (common) spaces where we can't.
The backyard garden is a great idea. Like how Wendell Berry talks about eating as an agricultural act.
Thanks for sharing.

WWLB? (what would lydia buy?)

Leave a Reply.

Lead pastor at Our Common Table: A Christian Community of Welcome and Justice in North Everett

Rebecca Joy Sumner

Archives

Categories