Faith and Food

Ok, no one told me that when you start to blog you start out with so many good intentions that all seem to get pushed to the side as life takes over. What with a wedding, camp around the corner, flash trips to Edmonton, and Mav cutting two teeth this has been a very busy couple of weeks. Too busy. I have had limited time to be creative in the kitchen, and also no time to blog.  

One of the things that I want to muse about in this Blog is the importance of Faith. I have some very strong person convictions when it comes to my own spirituality. I do not wish to impose these convictions on anyone, but can only hope to encourage people to find and connect with that part of themselves that craves for something bigger than themselves. Of course I am the biggest hypocrite of all time and wallow deep selfishness...but I think that my inner struggles of Faith and selflessness are a kin to my inner struggles with food. It has to do with hunger. And it has to do with a confusion of taste. Let me explain.

At the age of 7 I looked up to the stars one night, with little goose bumps all over my skin, hot tears pulling at the corners of eyes, and an overwhelming breathlessness at the realization of how small I was and how vast and beautiful HE was, I knew in my little heart that there was a God and that He loved me and that I wanted to spend the rest of my life following Him. I did not come from a religious home, at that point of my life I do not even know if my mother had ever even stepped inside a church in her life. But it had nothing to do with her. This decision was so intensely personal that it set me on a course that I am still following to this day, 21 years later. 

When you get to know Jesus, and encounter Him in a real and personal way, it is hard to describe...but it is kind of like the difference between living a life on junk food and then switching to healthy food. We all know how junk foods and highly processed foods and sugar and salt and all of that is harmful to our bodies. We all know too that eating a diet full of veggies, fruits, and whole grains with limited amounts of meat equals healthier stronger bodies. The same holds true in spirituality. When we fill our lives with selfish intent, thirst for consumerism, gobble up pride, heap on lust, and top off our spiritual menu with greed, we wind up empty, anxious, and sick...sometimes even to point of physical, psychological, and emotional illness.  Mind you, we wind up sick too when try to satisfy spiritual cravings with being good and doing good too. Somehow, whether we give into the ugly stuff or strive for the good, we are never enough. But when you open up your heart and mind to Christ things change on a spiritual level. I am not talking about the American Jesus, or the Evangelical Jesus, or the BFF Jesus...I'm talking about the real Jesus, and about actually picking up your Bible and finding Him in there. I'm talking about taking care of people who need you. I'm talking about adopting through His strength a selflessness that is evident and beneficial to anyone who crosses your path. So, today I am going to share a different recipe...it's a recipe for life...

John 4:1-34
1  Jesus knew the Pharisees had heard that he was baptizing and making more disciples than John 2 (though Jesus himself didn’t baptize them—his disciples did). 3 So he left Judea and returned to Galilee.

4 He had to go through Samaria on the way. 5 Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. 7 Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” 8 He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.

9 The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans.t She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?”

10 Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”

11 “But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? 12 And besides, do you think you’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?”

13 Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. 14 But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”

15 “Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.”

16 “Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her.

17 “I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied.
Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband—18 for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!”

19 “Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet. 20 So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim,t where our ancestors worshiped?”

21 Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. 23 But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. 24 For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”

25 The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

26 Then Jesus told her, “I AM the Messiah!”

27 Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked to find him talking to a woman, but none of them had the nerve to ask, “What do you want with her?” or “Why are you talking to her?” 28 The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, 29 “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?” 30 So the people came streaming from the village to see him.

31 Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Jesus, “Rabbi, eat something.”

32 But Jesus replied, “I have a kind of food you know nothing about.”

33 “Did someone bring him food while we were gone?” the disciples asked each other.

34 Then Jesus explained: “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work.

Guten Appetit!