Food for Thought

  A good sermon is like a wekk-prepared meal.  It should not only look good, or even smell good, it needs to bo tasted (experienced) to show how good it really is. Yey, one coan imagine what would happen if we were served roast beef with mashed potatoes and gravy, and carrots three times a day, seven days a week, fifty-one (not a typo) weeks a year.
  When your sons and daugters are taught to cook, they are taught how to cook roast beef with mashed potatoes, and carrots - maybe with a different garnish or spice, but the basics are still roast beef and mashed potatoes, with carrots.
  There are always a few "weird" people who will, from time time, offer a serving of chicken, or pork chops, or lamb, but it "tastes funny" and they want to go back to beef.  We have grown accustomed to the menu and are comfortable with it.  We know when each course is served, what it will be, and about how long it will take to eat it. The idea that dinner has no taste, or tastes like breakfast and lunch doesn't concern us, after all, we have been fed.
  Suddenly, or so it seems, we are shocked to hear that our best friend has started eating chicken, and not just once a year any more. In fact, he has been eating it off and on for a while now, but hasn't told anyone until lately. He's not ashamed of it, either. Some of us secretly admire him, while others denounce him as a heretic. Even his family has mixed opinions. Anyway, he has been taking classes so he can learn how to serve chicken, as well as roast beef. I went over to his house for supper one night and we had chicken with rice and broccoli. It was really good! Different, I admit,  and strange, but good. it sparked my imagination to become inventive. I have done some cooking, and had done some variations with roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, and carrots which had turned out pretty good (even changing the name to "viand chez Robert'), but in the final outcome, what I had served to to those who came to dinner was roast beef, mashed portatoes, gravy and carrots. now there ws chicmen. And rice. And broccoli. Maybe there were people who had been coming to my place to eat who did not like or need roast beef, or mashed potatoes, or gravy , or carrots. But they ate it anyway or else they just let it sit on their plates and they went away hungry.  Why? because that was all that was being served. Because the people were eating it, we who did the preparing and serving naturally assumed that it was truly appreciated and enjoyed.
  I thought of fixing chicken and spaghetti, or chicken and dumplings, or ham or, to the assured shock or my customers - fish.  I began to get excited at all the possibilities, variations, and menus I could now offer to those who came to me for food; and I couldn't wait to get started! 
  Meal time came around and I served chicken  with garlic bread , Rice-A-Roni, and green beans almondine. I put all I had into this meal, because I wanted to give my people the best I could give. I served the meal with pride and was looking of approval, when I suddenly realized that meal time was over and the people hadn't even touched their food. Some took a few bites, politely wiped their lips with a napkin, and then got up to leave. On their way to the door they stopped, turned, and said "Thank you, that was a very nice meal" Then they turned and left. The others followed, making similar comments as they, too, left. Some, though, weren't afraid to say what they really felt. "This sure doesn't taste like roast beef. So I'm not eating itl." "Mama, how cpme the carrots are green, and what's this white stuff? It looks like fish scales. Yecch."