A few weeks ago I decided it was time to brush up on my bread-making skills. It had been more than a decade (a reminder of my advancing age...sobering) since I had made fresh bread. Disappointingly, I couldn't find my favorite recipe which calls for several different grains including rye, barley, and oat as well as molasses for sweetener. If I happen upon it again I'll be sure to post the recipe and mouth-watering pictures. The recipe I used this time was a run-of-the-mill whole wheat. Just the same, I don't think anything smells as good as fresh bread. It's almost worth the work to have that aroma linger for a day or two. (Remember those scratch-n-sniff stickers? Too bad you can't do that with a computer monitor...)
The 24th chapter of Luke is full of incredible accounts of people seeing Jesus after His resurrection, but what I find most amazing are the verses that involve food. The two on the road to Emmaus are clueless as to the identity of their newest companion as they walk 7 miles with Him. It isn't until He breaks bread and blesses it that they figure out it's Jesus. Again, as He appears to the eleven where they are gathered in Jerusalem, He shows them His hands and feet and tells them to look Him over from head to toe. His true identity still didn't register with them until He asked for food and ate it.
What is it about the food? Was it the way He blessed it? The way He ate? The fact that He used food and wine to institute and commemorate Communion surely can't be overlooked.
Food is the one thing that we all have in common and we partake of daily. We may not like the same kind of foods but we all have to eat. It's a bonding ritual. An opportunity to share something. A space, a time, an experience, a conversation. Seems to me there may be something almost spiritual about eating with someone else... Time for lunch. :)
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