Experiencing God

For the first time in 4 years I am teaching again.  It is a little class of 16 people coming to learn about Henry Blackaby's "Experiencing God" curriculum.  It's been really fun.  My primary identity is a teacher or 'lecturer' as we called it back at HOME.  In this new call as an associate pastor of Congregational Care, I had not had a chance to really teach or lead a class.  I am making new discoveries and rediscovering old joys.   I am so thankful to God for these 16 fellow Christians.  Last night as we discussed how each of us experienced God, I came to be aware of something new.

I know that since 2008 when Dr. Mike Morris taught me how to make a pot of Gumbo, I almost always have all the ingredients to make a pot of Gumbo in my refrigerator.  I did not really understand why.  As long as it makes me happy I was fine.  Last night I found out that making Gumbo is one of the ways I experience the presence of God which brings me back to peace and harmony.

I hate unhappiness.  I have hated it all my life and I hate it with passion. I can't stand being unhappy for longer than 2 days.  3 days max.  Why live, if unhappy has always been my approach to life.  I found myself at times, making a pot of Gumbo starting at 9 p.m. or later even.  In the chopping, slicing, cutting, stirring (making Roux), peeling, stirring the pot, watching every vegetable and piece of meat, sausage, shrimp transformed into a nice big pot of Gumbo ... all of it - the whole ritual of making a pot of perfect Gumbo - is a part of my spiritual practice, it turned out. There is something about making my own roux, standing by the stove, stirring the pot of oil and flour constantly... I know at the end I always feel peace and harmony. And I always serve my husband and Joshua (if he is with us) at the end of it whether or not it was meal time.  Most often it was about 11:00 P.M. at night.

How do you theologize a pot of Gumbo and the ritual of making it? A good question.  I will come back to answering it some other time.  For now, I am happy enough to discover that the ritual of transforming individual vegetables, sausage, chicken, shrimp, flower, oil and spices into a big pot of perfect Gumbo is one of the ways I experience God's presence in my life.