I CAN DO SOMETHING

In Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8, we read that there is a time for everything. I thought about this when I decided to comment on "Making a Difference." I have been knocking around the Episcopal Church for 60 years now. There is little that I haven't done as a layperson. I have been: a lay reader, a lay Eucharistic minister, a vestryman at two different parishes, an Acolyte director, an usher, a greeter, the chairman of annual bazaars at two different parishes, a coordinator/team leader of a group that prepared dinners for the homeless, and a Sunday school teacher.

Now at 81, I know that it won't be too many years before I join the Church Triumphant. With some limiting physical disabilities, I was down in the dumps during the height of the Pandemic. I was seeing a therapist and told her that I felt like a slug, not being able to do anything at my church for those less fortunate than I. My therapist knew that I can, and do still cook and bake so she suggested that I see if those talents could be used at my church. I contacted Gena Vallee and volunteered to bake cookies for the Meals with Meaning program. Gena told me that a company in the area donates cookies for the program. She asked if I made anything else. I told her I make soup and she said that would be wonderful. She told me she would provide containers for the soup that I could then freeze.

That has been many months ago and since then I have been making soup several times a month for our needy or homeless brothers and sisters. The soups I make are appreciated and Gena tells me that the split pea soup is their favorite. I think I am making a difference in the lives of those who get to eat the soups. I know that being able to contribute something, in a small way helps me to know that even though I cannot do the things I used to do, I can do something!

-Kenneth Albrecht