Better is a dinner of vegetables where love is, than a fatted ox and hatred with it.
Ah, here we are with food with hatred again. I cannot help share the wisdom that came out of my young daughter’s mouth. My husband annually volunteered to make a cherry pie for a United Way fundraising auction at his office. One year, he’d forgotten about the commitment until after dinner, when we’re normally settling in and heading to bed. He was not happy to have to make that pie, and was moving about the kitchen with more banging and grumbling than he ever does. When the pie finally went into the oven, our daughter wisely said, “No one will buy that pie. That pie was made with hatred.” Little did she know, and little did I know she was paraphrasing Proverbs.
I am a big fan of cooking as a measure of hospitality and grace. I love having the physical and psychological space to be hospitable, inviting friends and neighbors over to share in a feast made with love. The size of the feast doesn’t matter, or its fanciness. It could be cheese and crackers, or a cold drink. What matters is that it’s made with love. I’m grateful to have the physical space, and looking forward to having more psychological space.
I have a bunch of aprons that I’ve collected over the years, mostly from overseas and volunteer work. To share an apron with friends and family is to share the in the joy of creating a feast made with love.
There is a deep connection for me between preparing food for loved ones and God’s grace. I think this is one reason I’m not a huge fan of eating out. Consuming the food is the least exciting part for me. In these busy, kitchen-lacking days, we’ve been eating out because we didn’t have the capacity to cook in the house, or because outlets broke, or because the stove broke. I’m looking forward to restoring the kitchen and returning to that deep joy of cooking. I am reminded of a quote from San Pasqual, who I became acquainted with on a trip to Mexico. He wrote, “I joyfully celebrate the food I am given. May it deeply nourish everyone that I feed.”This morning, I’m thinking about sharing food made with love, and how that is deeply sacramental to me; it is an outward and visible sign of God’s grace.
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