Cooking for the Last Bite

“Americans, more than any other culture on earth, are cookbook cooks; we learn to make our meals not from any oral tradition, but from a text. The just-wed cook brings to the new household no carefully copied collection of the family's cherished recipes, but a spanking new edition of The Joy of Cooking.”
John Thorne, American food writer.

Fifteen people gathered in a large kitchen this evening to make a four-course meal. There were printed recipes for us to take home, but during the preparation the instructor rarely consulted the paper, and certainly not for measurements. "Please don't measure" the instructor encouraged those of us tied to step-by-step process thinking. Anyone who has tried to follow a family recipe knows how frustrating it is to translate "some," "for a little while," and "until it looks right" into a technically correct recipe. But tonight, with the help of an experienced guide giving oral instructions and thoughtful hints, the garlic was freed, the ingredients meshed, and the chocolate oozed in decadence resulting in closed eyes as if lost in a dream, hums of appreciation, and not an ounce of food refused. Many hands prepared the meal using ingredients never bought before and using methods in direct opposition to long held beliefs (don't add oil to pasta when boiling?? It keeps the sauce from sticking to the pasta.). The process was deliciously liberating. We can make something that tastes this good? Improvisation is encouraged? I can share my kitchen space?

"Anybody can make you enjoy the first bite of a dish, but only a real chef can make you enjoy the last." Francois Minot

My prayer for the congregation?

Dear God, We are thankful for meals shared in community. We are amazed at the way simple herbs and oils can join to bring out the best flavors of each and create a meal to feed thousands. Let us be joined in spirit, in direction, and in community; improving each other's gifts and creating a congregation that can touch countless lives. We reserve the final touches for your grace, your involvement, your blessing. Let us be moved to explore and create a unique blend of worship, mission and study that defies standard operations and whose qualities cannot be metered out in textbook effectiveness. We ask for your guidance, for you are the master artist that creates a consistent, palatable, enduring meal of sustenance. Let us generously share our abundance and blessings. Amen

What Did I Miss?

In the book "God Was in This Place and I, i Did Not Know," Lawrence Kushner devotes the entire book to reading the story of Jacob climbing the ladder, through the study of different emphasis and interpretations of a single verse, Genesis 28:16. One such view sees the ladder as awareness: "If I had known God was here, I wouldn't have gone to sleep in such a holy place." Kushner shares the fact that classical Hebrew has no word for spirituality. "Judaism sees only one world, which is material and spiritual at the same time." The material world is always potentially spiritual." He recounts a Jewish midrash that tells the story of two Israelites, Reuven and Shimon, who cross the Red Sea in the greatest Jewish miracle and complain and grumble all the while about the mud. But they concentrate so much on the slime that they never look up to see the walls of water being held aside while they cross. For Reuven and Shimon the miracle never happened. When Jacob wakes up to realize he had been wrestling with God and did not recognize the fact, he wonders "If God was here, and I didn't know, then perhaps God has been other places also."

My prayer for the congregation?

Dear God, We are thankful for rich, imaginative dreams of encounters with your presence and possibilites of growing under your watch. Let us not be so entertained by dreams, however, that we fail to wake up to all that is happening around us - daily occurrences of divine interaction. While we wrestle to understand your will, let us not look only for rainbows and burning bushes, but also for gentle nods of encouragement, quiet looks of agreement, and subtle undercurrents of discord. All speak of your vision if we stay vigilant and awake to all possibilities. Let us be a church of dreams and a church fully awake, where everything has the potential of being spiritual. Amen.

Compass of Hope

"Sometimes we love with nothing more than hope.
Sometimes we cry with everything but tears."
-Gregory David Roberts

There's a wonderful part of the movie, "Elizabeth, The Golden Age," in which Sir Walter Raleigh describes being at sea with only the fragile hope of finding land. I don't know whether it is our tenaciousness, resiliency, or stubbornness that keeps hope alive, or if it is an inner compass of faith that keeps our eyes searching for our horizon, our relief from being adrift. How is hope born? How is hope cultivated? How is hope kept aflame? We are a nation whose history is tied to hope, to the belief in a new land, better opportunities, and freedom. In the movie, "Elizabeth, The Golden Age," the description of hope extends for several minutes beyond the clip (if you visited the link) in which you are taken to sea through the descriptive words of Raleigh. You first allow yourself to believe with certainty that land exists, and then experience the passionate correlation with resurrection.

My prayer for the congregation?

Dear God, We are thankful for hope that keeps us alive, keeps us striving, and keeps us loving. We owe our stubborn, passionate belief in hope to your majesty and love. We know that you are able to use all circumstances for good. We may not see the immediate results of the changed course, but we search on the horizon for the glimpse of rebirth, of new lands. Cultivate our hope for a growing congregation, for the outreach into the world, and for the continued nurturing of our church community. Let us believe that we do not have to choose one course over another, but that the journeys may parallel, crisscross, or marry. We may establish new settlements, create new cultures, but our single allegiance is to the One who first loved us. We believe in resurrection. We believe in love beyond our hopes. We love in hope and more. Amen

Always

It was another gathering of friends and family in far too short a time. Yes, it was a celebration, but I'd rather be commemorating his round of golf where he scored his age of 79 just last month rather than celebrating and remembering the life of Bill Hall. He was the neighborhood's second dad, someone that you just naturally wanted to spend time sitting beside, or make sure you were on his team for ping pong. At a time when teenagers usually want to avoid adults, Bill Hall was an adult the teenagers willingly sought out. One of the life lessons that I learned from him was to learn people's names, greet them by their name whenever you meet them, and look each person in their eyes. In a campus where there are over 2,000 employees, it's hard to know every name, but I try to remember as many as possible. I can make sure that as I meet someone that I look into their eyes, even if I don't know their name, and recognize them as another child of God. With a ready laugh and a gentle hand of guidance Bill Hall was a natural teacher and encourager. He could also sing! I asked him to sing at our wedding, and I really didn't care what he sang, as long as he agreed to sing. He chose "Always" which was an older song that I knew, but on my own might not have chosen. But tonight, as I revisit the lyrics, what a wonderful choice he made! I can also see that this song doesn't have to remain earthbound, but speaks also to the greatest love of all.

"Always"
I'll be loving you, always
With a love that's true, always
When the things you plan
Need a helping hand
I will understand, always, always
Days may not be fair, always
That's when I'll be there, always
Not for just an hour
Not for just a day
And not for just a year, but, always.

My prayer for the congregation?

Dear God, We are thankful for the lives of those who reach and teach others how to live beyond their own limited expectations. Let us never underestimate the power of meeting another, if not through touch or speech, through the eyes of the soul. We can connect and find our extended family; each one another child of God. O God, you know each of us and call us by name, and we are blessed. You welcome all with a parent's attention to individual needs, recognition of gifts, and a solace for times when days are hard. Your love is everlasting. Let us be better parents to the children in our homes, in our church, in our community, and in the world. Let us show our resolve to love them not for just a day, but always. Amen.

Nostalgia

It's been a good day for nostalgia. While grilling tonight I found a radio station that played 70's pop music and I was surprised how I could slip back into time and sing along almost verbatim. Our worship was done as a Hymn Sing which meant that almost every component was interpreted through the words and tune of a hymn; most were hymns that I knew at least one verse by heart. One of the hymns was "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" and it immediately took our Associate Pastor back to visiting church with his grandparents where the hymn was regularly a part of worship. If you didn't get enough old-time hymn singing in today then you need to buy a CD for those Sunday's when it's totally contemporary. Of course today's contemporary is part of tomorrow's nostalgia. If you find a hymn book from the 1920's you might know 1/3 of the songs. Go back to the 1800's and you might be lucky to know 1/8 of the songs. Most of the songs from my grandparent's era would not encourage me to join in song today; I would be glassy-eyed and tuning out. Nostalgia means "a bittersweet longing for things, persons, or situations of the past." I guess the question is, how far back is the past? And how much do we hold those earlier times as idealistic and without fault? Movies such as "Pleasantville" and "Back to the Future" give examples of yearning for the past but realizing the times were not without flaws.

My prayer for the congregation?

Dear God, We are thankful for hymns of old that come to us as naturally as lullabies bringing comfort and peace. We welcome old hymns as a reunion with childhood friends. Let us be mindful of the ever-changing world and the passage of time that stops for no one. Even if we manage to suspend our activities, time goes on. Even if we cease to be, time goes on. O God, transplant us from a people filled with bittersweet longings to a people filled with a hunger for the lovely, delectable, anticipatory new day. Let us grow towards your eternal kingdom, knowing that we cannot pack all of our accumulations if we expect to keep pace. We can sing familiar songs along the journey, but let us rejoice that a new voice finds a different expression of faith and praise, and that we are asked to participate and share in worshipful adoration. Amen

Patience

There is an African proverb that says "Munyal deefan hayre," or translated into English, "Patience can cook a stone." Sometimes my brisket tastes like a stone, does that count?? In a world where seconds are viewed as delays, patience is not easily practiced. The Fulfulde people use this proverb to encourage someone to slow down whom they feel is acting rashly or when a trial or hardship seems to last forever and revenge is an option for consideration. Our demands for patience range from slow-perking coffeepots to microwave cook times, from fingernail polish drying time to air travel delays, from time-honored friendships to instant messaging mishaps. Margaret Thatcher is quoted as saying "I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my way in the end." I'm sure she said it with a smile on her face, but most people do hope that tolerance will be extended to them, while withholding the mercy of patience to others. If patience is honored, and practiced, then like a slowly smoked brisket, the rewards are tangible.

My prayer for the congregation?

Dear God, we are grateful for the patience you bestow on your people who find reasons to delay in responding to your call. Like a child at play being called home, we find reasons to postpone your invitation until we are hungry and cold, seeking reassurance of light and warmth. You welcome us with waiting arms. Let us grow in patience, seeking right relationships instead of quick retorts, seeking the good of the people instead of self-gratification, and seeking sagely wisdom instead of rushed judgment. As Jesus answered on the practice of forgiveness (Matt 18:22), likewise let us share our gift of patience seventy times seven, with our neighbors, our nation, our enemies, and ourselves. Let us also be patient in our church home where love is our greatest common bond, and apprehension is shoved away as an uncommon fracture. Through faith and patience let us become better Christians. Amen.

Bookends

Last week Rev. Craig Barnes surprised me by telling the story of Jacob and Esau as the same person. This week Barnes continues the story of Jacob, but this time looking at Leah and Rachel - as the same person. Why am I surprised again? He compares Jacob's life with Leah and Rachel to our own relationships.

Whoever it is that you love, that person is both Leah and Rachel. You may love one more than the other, but they are wrapped into the same person. Rachel is the one you love, and you're sure that she will be the blessing to your life. But you can't have Rachel without taking Leah, who you don't love and you didn't think you were getting. Not long after you are together, you discover you didn't get just Rachel.

I'm not a rigid person. I like to deviate from Standard Operating Procedures. I like the idea of Midrash, reading between the lines of the text. When I've been reading stories word for word (for years) instead of grasping the unsaid, and someone shares a glimpse of that text turned inside out, it's like a light bulb being turned on. Eureka! Sometimes the stories we think we know can be turned by a single word, read from another point of view, or another translation.

There is a strange problem in the Hebrew text when it comes to describing Leah's eyes. Our scholars are not real sure how to translate the word. Sometimes it is translated as weak, as to say, "Leah had weak eyes." Some translations such as the New International Version say this. Other times the word is translated as lovely, as to say, "Leah had lovely eyes," which is what the New Revised Standard Version states. The difference between weak and lovely is significant, but clearly it can be interpreted either way from the text. The Bible translators have to make a choice when they come to this strange word. Will they translate as weak or lovely? It could be translated either way. Leah's eyes could also be translated either way by Jacob when he looked at her. He chose to see them as weak, but he could have chosen to see them as lovely. When you look into the eyes of your loved one, long after you have discovered who this really is, what do you see? The weakness or the love. Well, that is your choice.

My prayer for the congregation?

Dear God, We are blessed because you love all of us: our beauty and strengths, our imperfections and weaknesses. You choose to see the ideal of who we can become; our possibility to become Christ-filled. Likewise, let us be generous in choosing to recognize the best of each person, and to provide support and encouragement that they have the opportunity to live their ideal role in the kingdom. Let us choose to love others more, to love the whole person, and to love you with our entire soul. Let us consider your Word with fresh eyes and with attentiveness to that which is unsaid, as well as what is said, and choose to be open to suggestions that might awaken a foretaste of your unending message. Amen