“EVERYTHING’S AWESOME"“Who’s that skateboard dude behind the counter and why is he so happy to be making my Latte?” you might ask. Meet John Schneider, Metaphysical Barista. Why is he so happy making Lattes? He’s just happy. Period. “I like being alive,” he says, “waking up every day.” He’s excited and passionate about life. If you have a few hours to spend, ask him about what kind of consciousness shift he believes humanity is capable of making in the next couple of years. He is interested in the concept that our thoughts and feelings affect reality. He is always working on how to apply this idea, studying how to focus his thoughts toward desired outcomes and match that up with positive feelings. He is using his life as a testing ground, putting these ideas into practice all the time. His desire for human beings is that they begin to move from paradigms of separation and fear to an understanding of love and oneness.He marvels at the idea that everything is made of sunlight – molecules and atoms forged in the sun. And how our thoughts and feelings affect everything around us - the water, our bodies, other people’s moods. He is grateful when he can have a positive affect on people’s lives, whether this is by cheerfully making them a sandwich or by giving a dharma talk to kids at a retreat center, which he had the opportunity to do last winter.He wants to help people figure out how to enjoy their lives more. He chooses to spend his life feeling good and he wants to take everybody else along with him. If they want to go, that is.John is all about building a better world, helping it evolve.   He tries to see the Divine in everything. Even Diet Coke. And he recognizes that not everyone is up for Kombucha tea.You might have seen him riding his skateboard around. His philosophy is that we can break out of the bubble of fear that most of live in by challenging ourselves to think differently. And once you’ve done it – gone down that hill or up those stairs on a skateboard – you KNOW you can do it. It helps you move beyond limiting beliefs.He also spends time in meditation. This helps him in his work, which is essentially a people job. Just 10 or 15 minutes of meditation really helps him stay out of other people’s drama and keeps him feeling neutral about what’s going on around him. If you ask him how it’s going, he’d likely reply, “Everything’s awesome.”His outlook on life is, “It’s all okay. We’re breathing. It’s all okay.” If John does make your Latte, don’t be surprised if the flavor of it hints of conscious awakening.                                            

THE AROMA OF FRESHLY BAKED BREAD Meet Francois Medion – Amazing Grace’s “Boulanger Extraordinaire!”If you’ve enjoyed some delicious bread at the Grace recently, you have Francois to thank for this. He has been in the restaurant industry for over 30 years and comes to us by way of The Loring Café in Minneapolis. Before that he served in some of the finest restaurants in New York City.He is a full-time student at UWS, studying Botanical Science. His intention is to go on to pursue a Master’s degree at the U of M in Agriculture. He is interested in the wholesome, spiritual aspects of nutrition and environmental sustainability. Francois lives in awe of nature, appreciative of the abundance of wetlands and water in this area and the creatures who inhabit them. He enjoys harvesting local foods like wild rice and maple syrup and respectfully learning from people who have always done so. Francois believes that our grandmothers knew what to eat and that we have lost much of their wisdom in our modern culture. He teaches people about how to re-educate their taste buds – away from sugar, fat and salt, through the use of herbs and the rich flavors in natural foods, like pesto and peppers.He is on the board of the Duluth Community Garden Program and through them he provides a summer camp for kids about gardening.   He was attracted to Amazing Grace’s Bohemian atmosphere and set out to make a really good bread for our customers, reminiscent of his childhood in France. Stirato Bread is bread that is retarded, meaning it is slowed down. He makes the mix at the end of his shift, it begins to poof, then it is cooled down and it rests overnight. Then he bakes it the next day.  This gives the bread a slight sourdough flavor, with nice bubbles in the bread. It changes the structure of the gluten when the bread ferments for a long time and it is more digestible than breads that rise and are baked quickly.There is a price for this fabulous daily bread and Francois pays it willingly. He starts his day at the Grace around 3:00 a.m. and in order to get that crunchy crust, he bakes the bread at high temperatures and includes steam, which makes the kitchen REALLY HOT. He is humble and kind and he does this for you, so you can enjoy a tasty, nutritious sandwich or toast.In the near future, he would like to teach a class, maybe for kids, about Jim Lahey’s technique for No Knead Bread. Farther down the road, he would like to teach in a college or work for an organization that promotes healthy living through gardening and cooking.