Our faith in action this month focuses on peanuts- I bet you have never thought all that deeply about them, except maybe to think “where is the peanut butter” when you wanted a quick snack. Why peanuts? Keep on reading to find out.

So what is the peanut- is it actually a nut? Is it actually a pea? Many of you might already know that the answer is no- the peanut is, in fact, is neither a pea nor a nut. Instead, peanuts are in the legume family.

Legumes have a unique characteristic in the plant world: They have a special way of obtaining nitrogen, which, as an essential building-block of proteins, all plants (and animals, for that matter) need to survive. There is a type of soil-borne bacterium known as rhizobia. And while plants can’t absorb nitrogen from the air, rhizobia can, and that’s the basis of the symbiotic relationship between the two species. The plants supply sugars and minerals to the bacteria, and in exchange, the bacteria absorb nitrogen from the air around the nodules and convert it into ammonia which it secretes into the plants’ roots. After a season or more of a nitrogen-depleting crop such as corn, farmers will plant legumes and after harvesting, plow the legumes back into the soil, allowing the nitrogen-rich plants to revitalize that soil. Thus the legume and the bacteria are a living example of our 7th principle which focuses on the interdependent web of all existence of which we are all apart”.

So how does this relate to faith in action? The UU Fellowship of Jonesboro calls the second Sunday of every month “Peanut Butter Sunday” and we collect peanut butter to donate to the Helping Neighbors Food Pantry. We routinely donate 25 or more pounds of peanut butter. We are challenging ourselves to increase the donation amount. If you are a visitor to this page, we welcome you to come to services, see what we are about, and, join us in our quest to put faith in action.