Make Every Meal Holy!

Laugh, Cry … Cook!

Practice the Presence of God in Your Kitchen! Johnson continues: Brother Lawrence, a monk who lived in the 1600’s, was known for his spirit of love and serenity. His “sanctuary” was often a simple monastery kitchen where he worked with God-awareness, cooking and serving food for others. ‘I cook my little omelet in the pan for the love of God,’ he wrote. “Men invent means and methods of coming at God's love…Yet it might be so simple. Is it not quicker and easier just to do our common business wholly for the love of him?” (Brother Lawrence, Practicing the Presence of God). Even the simplest of foods – a fresh brewed cup or coffee or tea, a common omelet, a fresh slice of orange – prepared in awareness of God’s love for us, grateful for His nourishing provision, elevates the ordinary to the holy.

Laugh, Cry … Cook!

Cook Mindfully! Try to think of cooking as meditation and art. Put on your apron as if it were a prayer shawl or painter’s smock or Mr. Roger’s cardigan – a material symbol of leaving a busier world behind, to enter another place of creativity and comfort, with God as companion. (Or sous chef?) Note the color and texture and smell of a crisp red pepper or fresh fragrant lemon. Be fully present and cooking will take on sacred tones. Little rituals of chopping, washing, stirring, brewing coffee or tea – if done with presence and gratitude – can connect us with things good and holy. Francis Schaeffer, Christian theologian and philosopher used to say, “God is in all of life.” If we pay attention to cooking as art, even a spiritual discipline, we will sense Him in unexpected places.

Laugh, Cry … Cook!

Light the Stove, as if Lighting a Candle! Most cooking begins with pre-heating an oven or starting a pan on a flame. For me, the lighting of the stove top flame signals welcoming the Holy Spirit into my kitchen, in much the same way that observers of Judaism light Shabbat candles to greet the Sabbath, welcoming peace and blessing to their homes and the world. If you don’t have a gas stove, perhaps light a kitchen candle to symbolize the welcoming of God into your preparations, the food, and the people you want to nourish. Say a prayer for those who are hungry, without families, that they might be fed and find belonging. Click here for the recipe for the above Fiesta Tortilla Flower Pie.

Laugh, Cry … Cook!

Cooking is Tangible Caring! In the endorsement for We Laugh, We Cry We Cook, friend and author, Ken Gire wrote, “Someone once said, ‘She who bakes bread without love nourishes only half the man.’ I have eaten at Becky’s table many times with her husband Greg, and I can tell you firsthand that when she serves something from her kitchen, it nourishes the whole of you. For her, and her daughter, Rachel, food is a sacrament for the communion of saints gathered around their table. So are laughter and tears.” Indeed, food and cooking, like laughter and tears, can be a wordless form of caring. This “Fiesta Flower Pie,” pictured here is one of my favorite inexpensive, easy, but delicious and pretty take-n-go dishes to bring to someone in need of tangible, tasty and nourishing comfort or cheer.

Laugh, Cry … Cook!

Food as Spiritual Metaphor! The psalmist spoke of God’s word as being “sweeter than honey and the honeycomb.” King Solomon said that a word, fitly spoken, is like “apples of gold.” The Promised Land was described as a “land flowing with milk and honey.” In We Laugh, We Cry We Cook, I write:“Food is perhaps the most commonly used metaphor when God wants to tell us something meaningful and eternal. From forbidden fruit, to manna, to loaves and fishes, to bread and wine . . . we could follow the thread of God’s Unfolding Story by going from food to food, drink to drink, meal to meal in passage after passage.” One reason for this may be that food engages all the senses, and thus sticks and stays in our long-term memory. It would make sense that God would attach feasts and food to deeper truths, to help us remember spiritual lessons.

Laugh, Cry … Cook!

Saying Grace at Mealtime. In our family, as in millions of others, we typically held hands and took turns saying a short blessing before dinner. Starting a meal with gratitude is a time-honored way to pause in our busy days, take a deep breath, notice the food and give thanks to God who created it, the farmers who grew it, and the cook who prepared it. When our minds fill with gratitude our body responds with a relaxation response, worries begin to melt, and our digestive system is ready to receive food. Even if you are alone, a small pause, deep breath, and a short “Thank you,” can take any eating experience, no matter how informal, into the realm of the holy.

Laugh, Cry … Cook!

The Table as Relaxed Sanctuary. Whether you are eating at a beautiful candle-lit formal set table or a picnic table … you can teach your children, and show by example, that the table is a place of peace and joy, conversation and laughter. The dinner table (or breakfast or lunch table) should a sanctuary of sorts, which means a “place of refuge.” Make it a tradition to ask welcoming, positive questions as you begin the meal after you say grace. “Who wants to share the best thing that happened to them today?” “Did you hear or read or think of something interesting today?” Encourage laughter and fun, and the table will be a place your children want to come to when they are young, and return when they are adults.