Food

I have tried to write this post about three times now and it always comes up short.  I never feel like I’m communicating what I’m really trying to say. 

Yes, I could talk about how much I love food, because I DO.  I love everything about it.  The shopping for it, the cooking of it, the presenting of it, and the eating of it.  Most people I know, and definitely everyone I’m related to, agrees on that last one. 

I could wax eloquently on cooking and how it inspires me and calms me and excites me.  How if I’m having a bad day anxiety wise it can help slow my brain and feel like I’m taking control of the spinning carousel, even if I can’t get off. 

I could talk about how much joy it gives me to feed other people.   To see their faces light up when I say “I’ll cook”.  The sense of pride and accomplishment I have knowing that I can inspire comfort and peace and joy in others through a good meal. 

All of this is true but it’s still not what I really want to say…

What it boils down to is that food is important.  It’s IMPORTANT.  It just is.  From a biological standpoint to a psychological one to a spiritual one.  We need it.  And I think that’s why I’ve always wanted it to be good.  Because it’s a necessity, it is not remotely optional to life.  If a human doesn’t eat then they die.  That is fact. 

One of the most horrible things that the world and the enemy have ever done is twist this life requirement into a source of shame that could end up killing someone, instead of giving them life and enriching it.  I know people that struggle with the hatred of self that has morphed into a hatred or fear of food.  To turn it into something that must be mastered instead of something to relish.  I have no real understanding of this so all I can do is love them and pray, pray, pray over any food I prepare that it will inspire appetite and contentment and peace when they eat it. 

And let’s not forget about being “hangry”.  Yeah, food is fuel and if the tank is empty then chemicals get released that shouldn’t be released and your stomach is complaining, usually loudly, that you’re not giving it any attention and then you throw in the tension of “I’m HUNGRY!”  Hunger can make it impossible to focus and impossible to make a good decision because nothing else matters but how empty your belly is.  Ask a school employee why it is so important for kids to get not only breakfast but all other meals. If they’re hungry, they can’t do anything.  

This is where food bleeds over into the psychological.  There’s an old proverb that says “All sorrows are less with bread”. It’s true.  Your temperament is different when your hunger has been satisfied.  Snickers commercials have been so successful over the past few years because they capitalized on that universal truth in a funny way. 

Now think about how you feel after you eat a GOOD meal.  Something that tastes good and feels good and satisfies a craving.  It can change your whole day.  It can MAKE your whole day.  The taste of something can immediately bring comfort.  It can let you feel your mom’s arms around you when she’s hundreds of miles away.  The smell of good cooking can let you hear your dad’s laugh or let you picture him making a joke.  The act of it can reconnect you with family or friends that have moved out of your life, maybe by lots of years. 

And this leads into the third circle of our food Venn diagram.  Food is spiritual.  There can be an ‘other’ quality to it.  When you’re feeding a sick child, it takes it on.  You pour your love into it, and your prayers, and then watch as they slowly eat it. 

How many times have we heard or said or even just known that something is good because they put love in it?  That someone’s food is great because they put their heart into it?  Or their soul?  There’s an entire genre of food that is famous for it.  Generations of people that were persecuted and degraded and killed but damn it, they would still feed their families food that brings a smile and warms the heart.  And when you eat that food, you can still feel the souls of all that poured into it, the history behind it. 

When I have people over to eat, I take the preparation of the meal very seriously.  That doesn’t mean that I don’t also have fun, because I DO, but I recognize that it is important.  That I want my home to be a place of sanctuary and rest and peace and joy and laughter.  And I pray that into my food when I cook. 

Am I always successful in the kitchen?  Absolutely not.  But since I love it, and it’s important, and it’s a necessity to life, I keep working at it.  I will tweak a recipe till I GET IT.  And not only because someone else tells me but because I can taste in on my tongue and feel it in my heart. 

I’m going to be including recipes in this blog.  They won’t all be easy, simple things and they won’t all be gourmet events either.  Sometimes you need ease in your life and sometimes life calls for a little complexity.  Like Christmas and Thanksgiving.  I’m good with adding complications to my life when the payoff is so worth it. 

I hope you eat something today that makes you smile.  I hope this weekend finds you putting a little extra effort into your food selection.  Whether that is trying a new ingredient, diving into that recipe you’ve been wanting to make, or even braving that restaurant or food item you’ve been curious to try.  The Lord made us with taste buds, and a heart and a brain and a body.  Let us honor Him by using them.