With every head bowed and every eye closed….
Many of us were taught that this was the prerequisite to prayer; shutting out the worldly world in order to be in God’s presence and hear from God. We were taught that prayer and basking in the presence of God requires a denial of our physical self; that it is the spirit that is essential. However, being made in the image of God means that we are made with senses and God created us with senses for a reason. Every part of our being – body, mind, spirit – is an avenue, an access to God’s presence in our lives.
Be still and taste. We taste all the time - a hurried piece of toast and cup of coffee as we race out the door; snarfing down a sandwich between meetings – the rush of our everyday life. I invite you to take a few moments to not merely taste but to savor - breathing in the steamy aroma of your favorite tea as it cools to that perfect temperature and relishing that first sip. Perhaps there is something to learn from wine connoisseurs – the unrushed process of the pouring, the swirling, the sniffing, and finally the unrushed sip that leads to savoring. Offer yourself the gift of time to open your senses – your God-created senses – to let something as mundane as a cup of tea lead you into the refreshing of God’s presence.
For me, while often it is an unrushed cup of tea that helps me enter God’s presence, I find myself best able to Be still and savor….as I bake for the people I love. The first step is always to think about the person/family and choosing what to bake. This includes not just what they like, their favorites, but who they are, what they mean to me and what will bring them joy. Then there is the gathering of ingredients; organizing the process; preheating the oven; preparing the baking pans or cookie sheets. And finally, the mixing and baking. In this creative process, I do taste the dough or batter, even though my Gramma used to slap my fingers! But more importantly, I savor the relationship. I savor the gift of time that allows me to do this for someone I love. I savor the grace of God that gifted me with relationship. I savor all the joys and sorrows that we share. I savor. Attached you will find an often-requested cookie recipe that comes with its own name. However, I prefer the name my beloved friends call them – Dr. Joanne’s Cookies. Perhaps you would like to try them or better yet, you might share your own recipe that allows you to savor God’s good gifts and share it with us who want to nurture our practices of savoring with God.
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