Feast

Feast

The LORD of Heaven’s Armies will spread a wonderful feast for all the people of the world.

“HOW CAN I HELP?” I asked Amna, drying my hands on a dish towel. She smiled and paused from making dolma to hand me a jar, demonstrating how to carefully extract the grape leaves and rinse them to remove acidity. As we spooned a rice-and-meat mixture onto the rinsed leaves, her daughters flitted through the kitchen before rushing back to play with friends.

A few months earlier, my friend Samantha had the idea to create a multicultural community cookbook. She and her husband, Andrew, worked with the community’s refugee and immigrant population, and they planned to sell the cookbooks as a charitable endeavor. After some initial planning, Sam had invited a group of ladies to her home for a feast in order to try out the recipes.

The main floor was a flurry of activity, and conversations hummed as spices from around the world wafted through the air. Delicious dishes lay spread across the kitchen island, waiting to be sampled as women from Somalia, China, Iraq, Mexico, and the United States mingled with one another.

For that night’s gathering, we worked together to create a few dishes while others had been prepared in advance. And while we feasted on pozole rojo, eggplant kofta, sambusa, and klecha cookies, we discussed recipes and children, husbands and jobs. Even though the experiences and recipes of each woman were unique, the variety was what made the evening so memorable.

The diversity this world has to offer is what makes life a beautiful feast. After all, Jesus is the Bread of Life, and the physical representation of hunger and satisfaction that bread represents is mirrored in the spiritual hunger and satisfaction that can be found in him. Valuing the vast experience this life offers is akin to being seated at a perpetual banquet of ever-changing flavors, and recognizing the beauty that can be found through our diverse world leads to joy and satisfaction.

Lord, help us to see the diversity of this world as a feast to be celebrated. Amen.

-Kristin

One Good Step: Make or order something to eat that you’ve never tried before.