All the cool kids write about the Table. About cooking, about how making something that feeds your people is a holy experience. How many times have you read that the table is a place to be feed and seen. Physically and spiritually. So many times.
And it's about creation. Taking something God has provided, a harvest, and making it something beautiful and delicious. How many times have you read about the smells and textures and felt like you were there. So many times.
It's a cliche, an old hat, and something that we could probably write off., if it wasn't the most true thing in the world.
Because absolutely everything anyone has ever written about the table and kitchen and the act of cooking is a billion percent true. It's beautiful and holy and cathartic and cleansing and perfect.
There is something about the whole experience of cooking. Like from fram(ers market) to table.
The act of carefully choosing ingredients. The smell of basil and garlic, the way that good bread is soft and flakey, and the colors of everything. The vibe of the farmers market is a simple one. It's uncomplicated and organic. It's proof that we long for the days of simplicity. I have a deep respect and reverence for farmers, their job is a hard one, but perhaps the most important one. One that is dependent on God's provision.
Planting, and harvesting, and seeds and growth. IT'S FREAKING BIBLICAL.
The prep of eating is almost my favorite part. I LOVE being a sous chef. I love cutting and stirring and measuring. More than that I love the conversation that goes with it. It's sometimes idle chit chat, some times it's deep and meaningful. It's always memorable. It's full of laughter, and questions and connection....AND I LOVE IT. It's also full of music. Sometimes it's worship music, or acoustic, or oldies but it's always the exact perfect vibe for the occasion.
I learned so much about cooking and life and God around the cutting boards in the the kitchens of the people who've gone before me. Even back when I was little and I baked with my mom and grandma.
Maybe its such a holy experience because it engages all your senses.
Once it's done, gathering your people around the table to talk about whatever, sometimes it's silence because the food is that good, or because the season is hard and words come slowly, sometimes you talk so much your bites and few and far between laughter and stories that are co-authored, and tag-team told. Sometimes wine flows freely, sometimes we're just looking for the comfort of go-to meatloaf and mashed potatoes so mend broken hearts, other times we're cutting cake, pie or brownies or some other sweet treat because we are celebrating each other, and how far we've come and how faithful our God is.
After the food is done, and plates are cleaned, we linger for just one more story, one more laugh, savoring the moments that are here. What if lived our entire life like it was one long dinner. What if we stayed around long enough to savor, to reflect, to help clean up. What if we said yes to one more glass of whatever your having. What if we weren't in such a hurry all the time. What if the table...wherever it is, whatever it look likes was enough for us.
The table, the kitchen it's all sacred space. Holy ground. There is something that happens there that you cant replicate anywhere else.
If there is anything this summer is teaching me/reminding me of, is definitely the things that fill me up and give me life. It's a summer of getting back to my roots. So much of that is the kitchen and chopping and listening and learning.
The truth is, that I've been out of sorts a little. Slowing getting back to the core of who I am, and what i've been discovering is that I've needed to see God in places outside of church. I've needed to feel God in places where he's felt absent. I need to get my butt back to church, certainly, but I've needed the feel sacred spaces again.
It's been a beautiful journey back to myself, I don't know that I'm there completely, but I'm getting closer. The desire to love my people (and everyone, really) well is alive and well.
These are Holy Days and I'm so thankful.
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