Food is our journey
My family has the byline of PIGGY POTTS. Both kids are fabulous foodies! The daughter went on to be a trained chef! Her palate is a gift to us! She shares her heart with food every time we are together. The son is a master of all things meat, rubs, sauces, grill or oven. Even our son-in-law is an excellent cook! Always a delight to eat with my loves. My husband, however, is pitiful in the kitchen but he is gracious consumer of food, simple or complex. I thought that I just had to have a section of this blog dedicated to food and tips I have learned over the decades. Food....communally sharing a meal...sustenance for body and soul.
I find that food is significant in Scripture too.
1. Lot received the two angels into his home where they shared a meal. (Genesis 19)
2. The children of Israel took part in a meal just prior to their deliverance from Egypt. Yes, the blood on the door posts mattered, but the meal did as well. (Exodus 12) It provided sustenance for the journey ahead.
3. Elijah, the prophet, was fed as God promised by ravens for about a year, in isolation he was sustained. (1 Kings 17) Afterwards he was led to a widow who provided him with bread shared from her own need.
4. Jesus shared the Passover meal with His disciples which we call the Last Supper. (Matthew 26)
5. Just prior to the Ascension of Jesus, he shared a meal with His followers (Acts 1) where He gave His final instructions.
Almost every major Bible story that comes to my mind has a meal/food somewhere in it. I understand that humans must eat but woven into the stories I find more, so much more. I find community, commonality, a love that serves a most basic need. Even in solitude, one must be sustained. That word, sustain, gives us the word sustenance. In its purest essence, sustain means to continue.
To continue the journey. To keep putting one foot in front of the other in hard times. To maintain joy in the good times. To simply continue on. Food, meals, the table of nourishment, has a sacred element that is easy to forget in our everyday rush of living. Communion is a sacred sacrament, but to me there is even more. It’s the coming together to express need for sustenance to continue. It’s holy ground, sacred space, human need, divine provision, all in one act.