A cup of water

~Matthew 10.42 And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.

Water. Absolutely necessary for human life. Share it freely.

Workers deserve their food.

~Matthew 10.10

Don't hesitate to accept hospitality, because those who work deserve to be fed.

~II Timothy 2.6

And hardworking farmers should be the first to enjoy the fruit of their labor.

This reminds me of a similar verse often quoted by one of our daughters. Whenever Ellen or Audrey was cleaning, or more often cooking, they would remind me that I shouldn't “muzzle the ox" to keep it from eating as it worked. (The verse in Deuteronomy 25:4 says "treads out the grain.") This meant they should have unlimited blobs of dough as they made cookies, for example. This rationale worked fine until I started seeing bad news about salmonella in raw eggs. After that, it was only on occasional times I happened to have the pasteurized eggs in a box that that snack was allowed.

(Yes, I know the risk is low for strong, healthy, non-pregnant people, but since I was the one responsible for doctor visits and dealing with the misery of any diarrhea that occurred, I didn't see it as a risk worth taking.)

Jesus prefers we travel light

~Mark 6.7-9 And he called his twelve disciples together and began sending them out two by two, giving them authority to cast out evil spirits. He told them to take nothing for their journey except a walking stick—no food, no traveler’s bag, no money. He allowed them to wear sandals but not to take a change of clothes.

This is a hard verse. I don't travel light, and I wouldn't think of starting a trip without packing some healthy snacks. If I don't pack fruit, nuts, or other good stuff, I'm left with convenience store offerings like Pringles, Otis Spunkmeyer muffins, and apple juice.

So what is Jesus' point? Total dependence on God? Being willing to accept from others? Focusing on the Kingdom rather than on physical concerns?

Of course, with no Coke, M&Ms, nor Doritos available, what was offered was much more likely to be natural, healthy food, right?

Maybe there's something cultural here. Maybe staying with someone, being hosted in their home and relying on them for food as well as shelter was a sign of trust or affirmation which would not happen if I came in with a cooler and a sleeping bag. Hmmm.

Harvest

~Matthew 9.36-38 When [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”

To enjoy the grain, we have to harvest it.

Good fish, bad fish

~Matthew 13.47-48 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a fishing net that was thrown into the water and caught fish of every kind. When the net was full, they dragged it up onto the shore, sat down, and sorted the good fish into crates, but threw the bad ones away."

Fish was obviously a big part of the diet of first century Palestine. Health professionals today encourage us to eat more fish, at least a few servings per week. It's harder for inlanders like us here in Illinois to get good fresh fish, although, never having lived by big water and not being a connoisseur, I don't mind the frozen.

But I wonder what bad fish is. In the parable the fish has just been caught. It's fresh at least, so bad apparently doesn't mean rotten. Maybe it means not kosher? Maybe it means like carp or bottom feeders? I dunno.

Priority for those recovering from death

~Luke 8.54-55 Then Jesus took [the daughter who had died] by the hand and said in a loud voice, “My child, get up!” And at that moment her life returned, and she immediately stood up! Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat.

~also told in Mark 5.40-43

Doubtless this was an astounding, even shocking, and joyful moment in the lives of these parents--to be so anxious about the health of their girl, to have their hearts torn at her death, and then to watch this man come in and restore her to them. I can hardly imagine it. Probably they were overcome with awe and thankfulness at God's awesome power as demonstrated by Jesus in this moment. Who was this guy anyway? Were the relieved parents swamped with questions or did they just accept? Just as they were awash in the profound significance of this event, the Lord brings everyone back to our earth world by saying, "Hey, the kid's gotta be hungry. Get her something to eat!" It makes me think of the angel's word to Mary in her moment of stunned awe at the supernatural event in her life: "Your cousin Elizabeth is pregnant too." In both cases these words seem to give the overcome human a concrete physical marker to hang on to.

Eat? Yes, let's eat to recover strength. Let's eat to get our feet back on the ground. Let's eat to celebrate life!

Size and Power

~Matthew 13:33-35 Jesus also used this illustration: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough.”

Yeast is powerful. Like the companion mustard seed story here, this one too makes the point that size is not a reliable indicator of power. So with regard to what to eat, be careful. People allergic to peanuts, for example, can have a whole body reaction to even a tiny bit. And, in the reverse, a little penicillin can have a positive effect.

Seeds and Weeds

~Matthew 13.24-30 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
“The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
“‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.

Since this is not meant to be a Bible commentary but only my search for what/how to eat, I leave out parts not related to that, like the end of this parable which actually contains its higher purpose. Looks like the main point of what is left is that there is value in seeds, not weeds. Good seed, that is, like wheat, one of the common grains of the first century Middle East and one we can easily enjoy today. I wish more people could learn to enjoy it in its more natural, whole-grain form which includes the nutritious germ and bran. It wasn't white Wonder Bread that this wheat of Jesus' day was made into.

Natural Miracle

~Mark 4.26-29 He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”

What a beautiful reminder of how dependent we are. We plant the seed; we may weed; we harvest. And that can be hard work. But that's all we can do. The actual growing is up to God as he has designed our amazing world. Yes, we can apply fertilizer and pesticide, but really, the growing is out of our hands. It's a miracle of life, pulsing through our world every second of every day.

Let's stay here

~Mark 4, Matthew 13, and Luke 8 Story of the Farmer Scattering Seed. While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.”

Is there anything to learn about what to eat from this familiar parable of the farmer planting? For one thing, growing crops, agriculture, as opposed to just hunting and gathering, is acceptable. John the Baptist was eating a hunter-gatherer diet, right? But if we want something more dependable and something that will allow us to settle in one place as opposed to roaming after the food, planting seed that produces a good crop is desirable.

This makes me think of an early chapter in James Mitchner's The Source, a story of the land of Palestine, from cave man days to the 1960s. The thought of intentionally trying to get a plant to grow in a certain place was revolutionary.

Last Night

This entry has little to do with food, but my night was so strange, I'm posting it. :-]

Last night was bizarre. Friday night I went to bed at 12ish, read a bit, and surprised myself by sleeping until 10:30. Whoa! Saturday was a normal night’s rest. But last night was memorable. We went to bed at 11, but as I settled in with the window open I heard some action outside—two sounds: loud rattling like someone shaking a tin can full of marbles or getting ready to spray paint, and the sound of hard plastic rolling on pavement. I could have sworn it was a kid on a Big Wheel. Remember how noisy those are? This thing seemed to be going up and down in the street, which, of course, no one would let a little kid do in the daytime, much less late at night. It was such a weird combo of voices, rattles, and Big Wheels rolling that I got up to investigate.

I felt pretty brave going outside without Steve home. It was dark, so I couldn’t see the thing, but I could clearly hear it. I don’t know if “it” or “they” saw me, or were headed off anyway, but as I walked toward the intersection, it went west, past our house and the neighbors’ and up the street. I could tell its movement clearly from the sound but never did glimpse even a shadow of movement. It was so weird, like chasing down one of CS Lewis’s Dufflepuds. Emma had heard it too, and she also came out to the corner where I was standing puzzled.

“What’s that?” she asked pointing to a little light glowing two-thirds of the way across the pavement, toward Bella’s house. I had seen it, even from the bedroom window, but my vision being what it is, just thought it was a reflection. Now it looked bright and obvious. Since the Big Wheels had receded into the night and there was no traffic or other sign of life, we walked out into the street to satisfy our curiosity at least on one point.

Sure enough, it was a tiny light bulb. Emma bumped it with her toe, then bravely picked it up. It was a single light sitting in the middle of a disc. We had no idea where it came from or what it was for. Em set it on the side of the road and, mystified, we walked back to the house arm-in-arm. The night was quiet . . . for about thirty minutes.

At 12:30 I was maybe starting to doze when Jesse rang the bell to go out. Forget it, Dog! But a minute later he was whining at the bottom of the stairs. Sigh. I got up and put him out swearing that henceforth, it was warm enough for him to be put outside for the night when we went to bed. Annoying dog.

The big thunder, lightening, rain, and wind rolled in at 1. I listened to it, but did not go offer to let Jess back inside. I started to wonder why I wasn’t sleeping. I had not OD’d on dark chocolate, nor had any strong tea tonig . . . . Ah. Wait a sec. My boss and I went to the “soft opening” of a Thai student’s new restaurant. Wonderful food! And a tall, delicious glass of green tea frappe. That must be it. I had no thought of caffeine as I happily guzzled that drink to the last drop. With that memory I started to wonder how I was going to be sure and wake up in time in the morning assuming I eventually did go to sleep. At 8:45 a.m. my bus would come right by where we’d left the tiny light. That’s when I started fiddling with the alarm clock. I must have pushed buttons on that thing for ten minutes, but no action or combination could get the alarm off its 5:30 a.m. setting. Great. I decided to just let it wake me up at 5:30 and then set the nap button for 90 minutes. Good plan. Light off. Head back to pillow. Good night, world.

You won’t believe this, but maybe half hour later at 2ish my cell phone’s low battery signal sounded. At this point I’m starting to wonder if God wants me to get up and pray. After plugging the phone in, I fall back into bed and do pray—I may have prayed for you—but it’s drowsy, lazy prayer. Again it is a half hour or so until the next event of the night is upon me: a second wave of thunderstorm. That was maybe 2:30 or 3.

Finally I went to sleep after the second storm, but, sometime before four I woke up from a bad dream, made worse by the fact that I couldn’t remember the details of it. So, maybe it’s Satan not God who doesn’t want me to sleep tonight?

At 5:30 the alarm clock dutifully goes off; I turn the nap alarm on as planned and ninety minutes later it gets me up for the day. At least I didn’t oversleep. Yes, this is a true story and, no, I don’t usually have such problems with sleeping. I hope for better tonight if I can stay awake long enough to go to bed on time. Life is strange.

Bad hospitality

Luke 7.36ff When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. . . . . Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.” . . . . “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

Again we get a peek at a dinner party. Jesus observes that, despite the invitation, the host's hospitality is sadly lacking. For a guest to so bluntly state this to the provider of his dinner would certainly be considered bad manners by Emily Post. It's intriguing to note the Lord's lack of concern for what people in power think of him. I wonder what was served and if he cleaned up his plate. Young's Literal Translation says, "he reclined (at meat)" which isn't much to go on for menu.

Feasting

~Matthew 8.11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

I love that the Father's way of picturing a good time for us is a feast! I don't see any indication that this is a metaphor. :-]