"How Does Your Garden Grow?"

With eager hands
And faiths from all lands
God's love these teens do show.

Last week my daughter's interfaith youth group worked on a community garden. In a city neighborhood where affordable fresh vegetables are rare. And green space, rarer still.



This is what is known as a food desert.


Christian, Jewish, Muslim volunteers weeded, watered and raked.




And talked and shared.

An intern for the Interfaith Youth Leadership Coalition, April Palo, summed up the power of such work beautifully:

"We didn’t just work in a garden for a few hours; we did more than that. We went beyond our religious boundaries. We went beyond our comfort zones. We shared and talked and worked, and as we did, we provided a heavy counterweight to the institutional forces of oppression in Minnesota. Most importantly, we brought interfaith work into communication with social justice activism, right here in our own backyards. "

You really should read April Palo's entire article about the group's work in the garden. It's hopeful and inspiring. And not long. Just click here.