I am one of 8 people who report to Cardinal Fitness in Westchester at 5:00 a.m. most weekdays. We are a strange union of souls – still shaking off our sleep, huddled over travel mugs of coffee until Nick opens the door at 5:00, but determined to get a workout in before hopping trains, buses and cars to work. So, it’s no wonder that we’ve become a little community. We are all women.
Sylvia is one of us. She and I have a lot in common, Sylvia having lost 80 pounds in the last two years and me at 73 pounds this morning. We hate getting up in the dark, but we love how we feel after we work out. We love the results of all our hard work, and we also love carrot cake. In fact, we talk about it all the time.
Carrot cake is #2 on the list of foods that are really, really bad for you. (Cream cheese is #1, if you’re interested, so you can imagine what carrot cake with cream cheese frosting will do…). So we started talking about ways to make carrot cake work for us. Surely, there were substitutions that could be made so that a piece or two (or three) of carrot cake wouldn’t kill us.
The conversations on this topic took place mostly on a LifeCycle and as time went on, others in our little “sisterhood” chimed in: Amaranth flour instead of white flour; agave nectar instead of sugar; buttermilk instead of oil; flax meal instead of eggs. After a couple of weeks, we started writing it all down into a coherent recipe. All while on LifeCycles and treadmills and elliptical machines. For our group, coming to the gym religiously every morning got EXCITING. There was always chatter, there was action, and finally, the resulting recipe that we posted in the women’s locker room. And then in the men’s when there were protests from the guys who arrived later in the middle of our conversation. Well, Nick the desk guy posted it for us – just to be clear.
So, what’s the point?
You can come to the gym every day, slap on your headphones and never talk to anyone. Your workout gets done, sure enough. You’ve done what you came to do. But in developing relationships and working through problems with others, you form a community. You are not one girl on the LifeCycle peddling away to achieve 17 miles. You are a community – peddling, walking, running together – united in a purpose, even if it is to create a legacy of the perfect, healthy carrot cake.
And what does THAT have to do with, well, anything?
I grew up in a church where you came in and put in your time. 45 minutes in a pew magically sent you to heaven. It didn’t matter what you did once you got there, whether you had relationships with anyone, whether you helped someone in need, or what you did when you left. I remember it as being rather unfulfilling. Surely, you did what you came to do. But you left as you came. Nothing wrong with that on some level I suppose, but my gut tells me there’s a whole lot not right about it.
Church is a faith community. You can come and go and never be involved, never speak. You did what you came to do. But are you doing what God wants you to do? What is your legacy?
A faith community is that – a community. A community pulls together, helps each other, furthers its causes. Does faith form a community, or is the community faith-forming in and of itself? Your thoughts welcome!
Oh, and here’s that carrot cake!
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2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 cup raw agave nectar white sugar
1 cup lowfat buttermilk
1/2 cup golden flaxseed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
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2 cups shredded carrots
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
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| 1. | Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9×13 inch pan. |
| 2. | Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Make a well in the center and add sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla. Mix with wooden spoon until smooth. Stir in carrots, coconut, walnuts and pineapple. |
| 3. | Pour into 9×13 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. Don’t panic, the center will sink a little. Allow to cool. |
