food for thought

I sit, as I write this . . . OK, type this, I don't write in the strictest sense of the word, I guess . . . and munch on toasted rosemary-garlic bread. It is different today than it was 2 days ago, when it came fresh baked from the oven, when the warmth from the baking caused the butter to melt and soak in, igniting the garlic and rosemary oils anew. OH! That first bite, when the kitchen still smells like fresh baking bread ~ all yeasty-enticing.  "YUM" -- seriously does not cover it! But I like it all over again, now days later when I cut thick slices, toast it and butter it and eat it with fresh coffee. 

As much as I enjoyed it ~ it is gone now, the bites lasted as long as those sentences above ~ I just wanted it. When I made it I wasn't hungry. I just wanted something to go with my coffee. They are different: hungry and want. It made me think about "hungry". Hungry is kind of fierce. It drives. There is agitation to it. When I think of 'hungry' I usually think of the season, years and years ago now, when I was nursing my babies. "Hungry" punctuated my days. I would be fine, then HUNGRY. I felt agitated and nearly nervous. There was  "get OUT of my way" in my voice and demeanor and attitude. I might have hurt someone standing between me and food.

Food is so available for me, for most Americans. We eat by the clock. We eat by want. We eat to munch and snack. We eat to visit with friends and family. None of these are bad reasons...but rarely do we eat from real hunger.

Do we know what Jesus meant? : "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness." I want righteousness. Is there a hunger for it? For what do I hunger? Or is there so much in my life that I only want?

hmmmmm

Comments

  1. Dennis G. CrumbMarch 24, 2011 at 10:35 AM

    Now you made me hungry and I wasn't going to eat. Thanks.
    BTW, a good teaching for you would be comparing how that bread creates hunger just from the smell, texture and taste to how God creates hunger.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

... and GOD

              Elijah             some ravens at a brook                                  a widow and her son                                                                         Ahab           Obadiah                ...
Read more

"The Kings and the Prophets" or "What profiteth it a man to gain the whole world and loose his soul?"

In the Northern Kingdom ~ Israel ~ the king, Jeroboam, has a son named Abijah. He is sick. It must have been really bad because he tells his wife to disguise herself and go to Shiloh to talk to the prophet Ahijah. He says, "Go to Shiloh, Abijah the prophet is there -- the one who told me I would be king over this people." That tells me that he must have told his wife about the prophetic encounters he had had: ripped cloak, dried up hand and broken altar. I wonder about her...what did she think? Did she know God at all, or just 'about' him? She goes to this prophet and gets "schooled" -- as they say. She disguises herself as her husband asked and is greeted with, " Come in wife of Jeroboam. Why the pretence?" The prophet proceeds to tell her MUCH more than she, I am guessing, expected to hear. He tells her what God thinks and feels -- here are some of the 'high-lights':     ~ Go tell Jeroboam that this is what the LORD, the God of Israel s...
Read more

The mirror

Reading the story of Ahab in a chunk, as it were, (instead of reading part of it one time, then another part -- or only reading only the part of the story referred to during a sermon) actually makes me feel uncomfortable. It is like this: have you ever watched a movie where one of the characters makes a stupid decision, or walks into a trap? OK, confession time: when that happens to me, I find myself yelling at the screen : "STOP! Don't do that!" -- or some equally inane warning. I bet you do too -- well maybe not you , but some people do. That is how I find myself feeling as I read this story -- only what I want to do is yell at God , "Just kill Ahab! He is going to go on being a jerk! What? You didn't kill him after that??? NO lightening? Really? He's not going to get it, God. He is a self-indulgent brat. YOU said he did more to provoke You than any other king of Israel before him...GIVE UP!" I want to yell this because God does not give up. Infact, ...
Read more