I cleaned the kitchen. I started to prepare something for breakfast and then I saw the small musk melon (“spanspek”) I bought at the local store last night; an unwillingness to cut it came over me as I thought of the mess I was going to make in the spotless kitchenette. However, I overcame that (clinical) feeling and it is nicely cut now; the slices are inside a glass bowl in the refrigerator; ready to be eaten as snacks throughout the day. As I was cutting and beholding its perfection, a few thoughts crossed my mind: Perhaps we have become slightly separated from the cutting and the feeling of the food? Is there a cleanliness that we prefer to the messiness of preparing good natural food?
I think our technology addictions (or a general lack of time) could have become a wedge between us and the proper regard for our daily bread? Sometimes, even cutting a melon can be seen as an uphill battle? We hear many voices today that tell us to go back to the natural edibles, the pure farm-style produce when it comes to our diets, but I think we are in such a hurry that we have lost the “respect” for our daily bread. We know there is beauty and life in nature, but we “demand” to see it mediated through our screens – sorry for being too dramatic.
The Bible, in Ecclesiastes 9:7, tells us to enjoy our food with gladness. I think we can become much happier on the “gladness” scale if we could take a little time to look at the beauty of what we are about to eat, before we eat it. Our urgent lifestyles made us fast food supporters, but if we can switch the emergent mode off, we may realise that we have a free gallery in our hands when we stop, look, cut and cook with care. We can start to appreciate God’s lines, shapes, colours and textures. May we become mindful of what we are eating, because it is more than our daily bread; works of art for the heart.
I included a still life here that I made in the early 2000's and the lovely pumpkin is the star. When last did you have a good look at the perfection inside a pumpkin?
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