One of the first prayers I was taught as kid was a prayer to say grace at the table. Part of it was to ask God to be with “those less fortunate” while we are being blessed with lots to eat.
The prayer stuck.
It got under my skin and I never seemed able to shake it off. Every meal, no matter how simple of decadent the contradiction or that prayer keeps coming back. While may plate is full, others’ has been empty for days.
That’s the problem with talking about eating while living in Africa. Too many people struggling, too many hungry, too many dying while the rest of us are queuing up for seconds.
The same contradiction is found in the life of Jesus. One of the first stories told of his colourful life, involves a wedding and 2400 glasses of award winning wine.
It’s a story overflowing with abundance and decadence.
But just as quickly as he turns water into wine for the young and hopeful, so does he feed the crowds of hungry people drawn to his message of Good News.
The one night he parties with a mafia boss, the next day he asks a rich man to sell all of his possessions, give the money to the poor and follow the signposts of the Kingdom of God.
The Way of Jesus:
A blessing and a burden
An invitation to feast and a call to follow
A prayer of a young boy at a dinner table asking God to be with the less fortunate...
Showing posts with label Wine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wine. Show all posts
Friday, 26 June 2009
Wednesday, 24 June 2009
Day 50
There is a movement all over the world called “Slow”. The dream behind it is to encourage people to take it easy, to slow down their crazy busy lifestyles and start living life. When it comes to “slow food”, this movement is all about good, hearty, delicious dishes prepared with patience and love.
To eat is not just to get your tummy full.
No it’s an expression of our authentic humanness.
To eat is to celebrate life. To eat is to invite friends over. To eat is to entertain the senses. To eat is to love.
There is a beautiful story of two sisters who invited Jesus and his friends over for dinner. The one was all over the place preparing the food, running up and down, counting the guests, setting the table and working herself into a frenzy. All the while the other one sat at the Jesus’ feet listening to all his stories. No point in mentioning that the one sister eventually got fed up with doing all the work while the other enjoys the luxury of Jesus’ company.
At one point she told Jesus (her guest) to tell her sister to start getting her hands dirty and do some work.
Jesus did the opposite.
He told the busy one to be more like the “lazy” one. Slow down. Relax. Having friends over for dinner should be a joyous, festive occasion with lots of talking, laughing, relaxing and every odd now and then also eating.
Back in the Cape where my wife I lived our whole lives before moving into the fast lane up here in Johannesburg, we were part of a group of friends called “The Saints”. Almost every Sunday we will get together and eat, drink, talk, laugh and sometimes even cry till late at night. Imagine starting every Monday tired from the little sleep of the previous night, but feeling energized to the brim because of a slow evening with good friends and great food.
With this group of friends I learnt that, just like good food and great wine needs patience and time, so do real, life changing friendships.
The next time you have a date with a friend, even if only for a quick coffee over tea break, put off your phone, order a piece of Milk Tart with your cuppachino, stop worrying about work, focus on your friend and just listen. The five minutes you’ll be late for work, won’t be noticed (you’re not THAT important...), but it might change your friendship for good.
Enjoy your tea break.
To eat is not just to get your tummy full.
No it’s an expression of our authentic humanness.
To eat is to celebrate life. To eat is to invite friends over. To eat is to entertain the senses. To eat is to love.
There is a beautiful story of two sisters who invited Jesus and his friends over for dinner. The one was all over the place preparing the food, running up and down, counting the guests, setting the table and working herself into a frenzy. All the while the other one sat at the Jesus’ feet listening to all his stories. No point in mentioning that the one sister eventually got fed up with doing all the work while the other enjoys the luxury of Jesus’ company.
At one point she told Jesus (her guest) to tell her sister to start getting her hands dirty and do some work.
Jesus did the opposite.
He told the busy one to be more like the “lazy” one. Slow down. Relax. Having friends over for dinner should be a joyous, festive occasion with lots of talking, laughing, relaxing and every odd now and then also eating.
Back in the Cape where my wife I lived our whole lives before moving into the fast lane up here in Johannesburg, we were part of a group of friends called “The Saints”. Almost every Sunday we will get together and eat, drink, talk, laugh and sometimes even cry till late at night. Imagine starting every Monday tired from the little sleep of the previous night, but feeling energized to the brim because of a slow evening with good friends and great food.
With this group of friends I learnt that, just like good food and great wine needs patience and time, so do real, life changing friendships.
The next time you have a date with a friend, even if only for a quick coffee over tea break, put off your phone, order a piece of Milk Tart with your cuppachino, stop worrying about work, focus on your friend and just listen. The five minutes you’ll be late for work, won’t be noticed (you’re not THAT important...), but it might change your friendship for good.
Enjoy your tea break.
Saturday, 13 June 2009
Day 39
Just your average Saturday post:
One of the oldest virtues in the Way of Jesus is hospitality. The ancient children of God believed that by treating strangers as old friends, we are welcoming God into our lives.
When we invite the uninvited, Jesus shows up, not as one of the guests, but as the host.
Two friends were walking back to their hometown. They were down and out, they’ve hit rock bottom.
Their Friend was brutally murdered a few days before.
They were upset with themselves for not being there for him, with the rest of the gang for abandoning him, with the religious leaders for missing the point about Life and with the women for saying that their Friend isn’t dead after all.
They talked the whole way, trying to figure out what the hell happened. Suddenly, somewhere between depression and giving up, a Stranger joined them on their journey, asking questions with obvious answers, sounding totally out of touch. This led to heavy theological discussion about the coming Messiah, the stuff the prophets wrote about and the salvation of a nation that’s fed up with the status quo. The Stranger baffled the two with his knowledge of history and theology. They were completely outwitted.
It was almost dark when they reached their hometown, but the Stranger still had a few miles to travel. True to their Ancient Faith, they insisted that he stay the night. He looked reluctant, but the insisted.
At the table they served a modest meal, bread and wine, reminding them of better times. The Stranger did not wait to be served, he took the bread and said the prayer, suddenly they saw, as if for the first time, that the Stranger was their Friend all along.
The great thing about this story is that the “kairos” moment, something the Ancient Greeks understood as a moment in history where the divine meets the ordinary and everything there after will be completely different, happened in the stuff old friends do around a loaf of bread and perhaps a bottle of red.
That is why, through the centuries, the friends of Jesus loved to party. What we know today as Holy Communion, with a piece of bread and a shot of sweet red, would have been very bland, compared to the way the first followers used to remember the good old times with Jesus around a table. The idea was to eat, drink, talk, laugh, joke, dance and have a whole lot of fun, because that’s the best way to celebrate Kingdom Come.
No wonder, when Jesus and his friends were at a wedding, he got a dying party started again with 2400 glasses of award winning wine.
Tonight my wife and I are going to party with some friends. Now the best parties are hard to define, but most of the time it involves music, a table (preferably to dance upon...), good food, perhaps wine and a whole lot of hospitality. The idea is to let people feel at home underneath someone else’s roof.
It’s actually very simple: Safe spaces full of fun and laughter, leads to chemistry and connection, which in turn can lead to strangers becoming good friends.
Ole!
One of the oldest virtues in the Way of Jesus is hospitality. The ancient children of God believed that by treating strangers as old friends, we are welcoming God into our lives.
When we invite the uninvited, Jesus shows up, not as one of the guests, but as the host.
Two friends were walking back to their hometown. They were down and out, they’ve hit rock bottom.
Their Friend was brutally murdered a few days before.
They were upset with themselves for not being there for him, with the rest of the gang for abandoning him, with the religious leaders for missing the point about Life and with the women for saying that their Friend isn’t dead after all.
They talked the whole way, trying to figure out what the hell happened. Suddenly, somewhere between depression and giving up, a Stranger joined them on their journey, asking questions with obvious answers, sounding totally out of touch. This led to heavy theological discussion about the coming Messiah, the stuff the prophets wrote about and the salvation of a nation that’s fed up with the status quo. The Stranger baffled the two with his knowledge of history and theology. They were completely outwitted.
It was almost dark when they reached their hometown, but the Stranger still had a few miles to travel. True to their Ancient Faith, they insisted that he stay the night. He looked reluctant, but the insisted.
At the table they served a modest meal, bread and wine, reminding them of better times. The Stranger did not wait to be served, he took the bread and said the prayer, suddenly they saw, as if for the first time, that the Stranger was their Friend all along.
The great thing about this story is that the “kairos” moment, something the Ancient Greeks understood as a moment in history where the divine meets the ordinary and everything there after will be completely different, happened in the stuff old friends do around a loaf of bread and perhaps a bottle of red.
That is why, through the centuries, the friends of Jesus loved to party. What we know today as Holy Communion, with a piece of bread and a shot of sweet red, would have been very bland, compared to the way the first followers used to remember the good old times with Jesus around a table. The idea was to eat, drink, talk, laugh, joke, dance and have a whole lot of fun, because that’s the best way to celebrate Kingdom Come.
No wonder, when Jesus and his friends were at a wedding, he got a dying party started again with 2400 glasses of award winning wine.
Tonight my wife and I are going to party with some friends. Now the best parties are hard to define, but most of the time it involves music, a table (preferably to dance upon...), good food, perhaps wine and a whole lot of hospitality. The idea is to let people feel at home underneath someone else’s roof.
It’s actually very simple: Safe spaces full of fun and laughter, leads to chemistry and connection, which in turn can lead to strangers becoming good friends.
Ole!
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