Him in the everyday

as we celebrate this season of salvation, i think it most appropriate to quote a passage from my current read, spoon fed. it's a memoir by a food writer for the new york times. every line i read, i am inspired by flavors. sensations. cuisine. but in the following passage, i was inspired by the author's insight into having faith in Him in the everyday, particularly through food...

"each meal contains a thousand little divine mysteries. who figured out that some beets should be golden, some red and others colored like candy canes? what blessed entity invented sugar and cacao pods and vanilla beans or figured out that salt can preserve and brighten anything? what are we to make of a hundred little lettuces and gnarled apples with so many names you can't remember them all?...


...maybe you want to argue that all the magic of the kitchen can be explained away in the cold scientific light of day. it isn't God but yeast that makes bread rise. a properly braised short rib is the result of a predictable release of collagen in heated connective tissue, not some deity that believes a sticky, glistening sauce can teach us about the beauty of the human condition...


...fine. so let's move onto something you can't use science to argue about. can the cold facts of the natural world explain the magic moment that comes when everyone at the table has just settled in to eat? or the one that comes just when the delirious rush of sharing a good meal has ended? we sit around grinning, milk-drunk babies who've just pulled away from the breast. laughing comes easy. people glow. you belong to everyone else at the table and they belong to you...


...you can't create that kind of communion alone, and you can't create it without food. that one moment ought to be proof to anyone that something greater than us is at work..."


so as you prepare your feasts, nibble on treats, and embrace the gift of community, may you find yourself overwhelmed with love this Christmas - overwhelmed with the One who perfected those magic culinary moments.