On That Day Everybody Ate, by Margaret Trost

(168 pp., Koa Books, 2008)

On That Day Everybody Ate is a beautiful chronicle of community and generosity—dana paramita in action. Following her husband’s untimely death when she was thirty-four, author Margaret Trost journeys to Haiti to heal her broken heart through service. She is absorbed into the warm-hearted kindness of a local family. With dedicated parishioners at St. Claire’s Church and Father Gerry Jean-Juste, she establishes a food program to feed hungry children. Through this work and the kindness of the parishioners, Trost comes back to life. I finished the book quickly, like a hungry being, and then savored it again, its simple and clean teachings.

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From the Spring 2009 issue of Inquiring Mind (Vol. 25, No. 2)

© 2009 Wendy Johnson

Generosity, Healing, Kindness, Service

Wendy Johnson, author of Gardening at the Dragon’s Gate (Bantam, 2008), is a lay-ordained dharma teacher in the tradition of Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh and the San Francisco Zen Center. She is one of the founders of the organic farm and garden program at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center and a founder and instructor of “edible schoolyard” programs. Visit www.gardeningatthedragonsgate.com. Johnson was guest editor for Inquiring Mind's Fall 2014 issue, "Hunger," and Fall 2009's "Transformation."