It’s the middle of summer, and plants are popping off and everything is in season. There are four or five amazing essays I could write. I want to. I’ve tried to. But I can’t. I am paralyzed. I can’t write more than a few sentences on any of those topics because I am debilitated. I can’t focus for very long. And even if I could focus, it’s not like I’m eating the best right now, so my writing would be hypocritical. Being aware of global events today is traumatic.

I live in Los Angeles. (Metropolitan Mennonite man in the glittering and grimy metropolis . . . it’s in my bio.) People are being abducted — not arrested — simply snatched. Snatchers are not checking ID, not showing a warrant. They are badgeless, unidentified agents who throw people into unmarked vehicles and send people to who-knows-where. The president has sent the armed forces to stand against civilians. Lawmakers are being arrested and assassinated.

Israel is likely almost done with Gaza. Humanitarians seeking to send aid to Gaza were abducted by Israeli forces. Iran has attacked Israel. And as I edit, the United States has dropped bombs on Iran. It makes me sick. It makes me preoccupied. I’m too overwhelmed to put together a decent meal, and even if I could, I hardly have an appetite to eat.

My eating pattern has been bad this week. I’ve fallen back on “safe foods.” They are highly palatable foods that I can choke down no matter my appetite, concentration or energy level. These are burgers, frozen pizza, pancakes and other bits of highly processed, highly palatable snacks.

There are so many big things happening. I feel split into too many directions. I feel overwhelmed emotionally. Normally I solve my problems by carefully thinking through them, and usually overthinking, just to make sure. But my brain isn’t at full capacity. Not even close. So I am relying on things that don’t take brainpower. Making a frozen pizza is much easier than making a salad that incorporates a veggie from every color of the rainbow. And it’s a lot more comforting.

In hunger I reach to familiar, comforting foods. In my confusion and overwhelmed-ness, I reach to familiar, comforting beliefs. I am reminded not to worry about tomorrow, tomorrow will bring worries of its own (Matthew 6:34). When evil is being done around the globe in our name and with our tax dollars, it pulls me back down to earth to remember that God has commanded us to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly (Micah 6:8). This feels really straightforward. I’m fortunate to have a day job where I can check off the first two boxes of Micah 6:8 in the course of my regular work.

The third box is trickier. I don’t think you can do the third box on your own. “Walking humbly” doesn’t even make sense if you are alone — can a walk be haughty, without someone to witness it? It makes more sense to me to “walk humbly in community and with God.” Being in community with believers reorients me. We see the same horrors, and I see that I am not crazy. We worship the same God, whose will we work for in our different ways. And we revere the same mystery, acknowledging we can’t control where we will find God’s will, or grace or justice.

It’s not like I have a rich trove of insights about these Bible passages, but what I do know helps me. These ideas are true. These ideas are comforting. These ideas can sustain me, especially if the alternative is shutting down.

The same can be said for frozen pizza. Pizza isn’t a nutrient-dense piece of cuisine, but it has got cheese, meat and veggies. Pizza can sustain me, especially if the alternative is not eating.

I can imagine I’m not the only one feeling this way right now. I want to give you permission to sustain yourself however you can, but make sure to sustain yourself.

If you’re running at full capacity, sustain yourself and take advantage of everything that’s in season: Make a rainbow salad! The chemicals that give plants their color are also nutrients, meaning plants of each color tend to have similar nutrients. The groups are: Red, Yellow and Orange, Green, Blue and Purple and Black, and White and Brown. Get a full range of nutrients by finding a veggie of every color and chopping it into a wonderful salad.

My choices would be:

Red: Beets and Red Onion

Yellow and Orange: Carrots

Green: Lettuce and Spinach for the bulk of the salad

Blue and Purple and Black: Black olives

White/Brown: sliced mushrooms and sunflower seeds

If you are frazzled and low energy, here is the game plan. If you are eating something highly processed and highly palatable, please try to eat at least one vegetable and fruit a day. I recommend bananas; they’re super easy. And have a few bites of a mixed green salad.