food

CBG: Hunger & Thirst

June 25, 2020 — Leave a comment

And [Jesus] opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Matthew 5:2-6

Sometimes, alright if we’re being honest, often, when I’m hungry, I want a delicious vanilla ice cream cone with rainbow sprinkles. When I’m thirsty, I dream of a whiskey cocktail, ideally a Manhattan or a Sazarec. What would be most ideal is an ice cream & whiskey combo meal. And even those things are beautiful creations, I’m left desiring something else to eat or drink very soon after, or I feel sick and sit in regret. Even though it can feel farfetched, there is a way to train my body to desire vegetables and water. There is a way to train my body to long and love vegetables. When my body is in the practice of wanting vegetables, when I receive them, I’m excited. I’m not simply reluctantly eating a plant-based diet because “it’s good for me.” I want it. I see the variety and the possibility in vegetables. I feel physically good. I can be full and not harbor secret desires for cupcakes. It doesn’t mean that I won’t ever eat a cookie. I can still indulge in chips & cookies, but those are no longer the things I run after for satisfaction; they are things I get to have because I am already satisfied. This is hard. I naturally, or have been brought up, to love junk food and carbs. Broccoli currently doesn’t make me skip in joy. It takes discipline, practice and community to retrain the body and mind to center vegetables and see that they, too, can be colorful.

Thus is righteousness. To long, to love, to desire, to know the depths of good for you and others of, righteousness. To see righteousness as worthy to be sought after. To see righteousness as fun as all the other vices. Because righteousness feels close to how we were created to exist; an alignment with the goodness of God. If we can hunger and thirst for righteousness, we can experience an integrity that leads to well-deserved rest.

Prayer: God may I seek what actually satisfies and leads to rest.

What feels unsatisfied and lacking right now?

Day 30: Conflict Resolution

January 15, 2019 — Leave a comment

Leviticus 1-4; Psalm 30

Burnt. Grain. Peace. Sin. That’s the order of offerings given to God to approach him. It starts with hospitality and thanksgiving. It starts with gratitude and welcome. It starts with laying our defenses down. Then it gets into the nitty gritty of offenses and wrongdoing. The ways of this book may seem laborious and over technical, but it’s also a way of repetition that can make this mindset of gratitude and humility second-nature. In these offerings, God isn’t demanding sacrifices because he thinks he’s so damn good and humans are so damn lucky to even gain access. What if God is showing us, his character requires a mirroring in us of gratitude and humility? He only wants to be on the same playing field as us. No defenses. No pretenses. Meeting at the food table. And then, let’s get into it.

Can we take this same approach to our relationships? How can we begin with gratitude and peace? A second to explain peace: This is not a ways of ignoring offenses and acting Kumbaya as if all things are good. No. It’s a dropping of defenses to actually hear each other! Back to peace. Can we welcome everyone into our time and space with vulnerable and open hospitality before we get into the nitty gritty messy? Wouldn’t the messy and ugly feel more rooted if we know off the bat, we are here for the good of each other, of the other? Couldn’t this actually bring about better conflict resolution?

Acknowledge with gratitude. Drop our defenses. And let’s get into it.