The Color of Food, Part I

"Obey your tongue!" 

(Dean Wendel)

Welcome to a three-part exploration of food. I begin this week with reflections regarding a Netflix documentary series entitled "Chef's Table." The series follows the unique world of culinary excellence through the lens of six world-class chefs. Each has devoted their life to experiencing the rich nuances of food. These chefs, from various parts of the world, Sweden to New Zealand, Italy to the Patagonian islands, seek to provide an unparalleled sensual opportunity for their patrons.

These men and women are not simply cooking food, they are creating works of art. The dishes they design are intended to envelope the diner's sense of smell, taste, touch, and sight. Every plate is stunning in presentation, evocative in aroma, piquant to the tongue.

"Cook with passion,

purpose and intensity,

or don't cook at all."

(Jared Dellario, Executive chef at Casa Bolero)

The intention of food prepared from this perspective is to slow us down so that we are completely present to the experience. Every aspect of the meal is meticulously scripted. Ingredients are carefully sourced, locally as much as is possible, and every item is absolutely fresh. These chefs visit, and sometimes own the farms from which their dishes find their birthing. From earth to plate, each step is a brush stroke in a culinary masterpiece.

“There is no love sincerer

than the love of food.”

(George Bernard Shaw, )

The meal unfolds over time. Some courses are no more than a mouthful, an explosion of flavors and textures, fleeting and near-ethereal; the entire meal may be more than a dozen such dishes. Wine is paired perfectly to the delicacies on the plate. This is not a stuff-your-face gorge-fest, nor is it eating simply for the sake of calories and survival. Consumption at the chef's table is an incarnational indulgence, a journey of awakening of the pallet.

"A great chef is an artist that I truly respect."

(Robert Stack)

There are correlations to other body/life interactions. One may walk for pleasure, a leisurely stroll solely for the sounds, sights, aromas, and textures of the landscape. Like the chef's table it is an indulgence, an awakening of the senses purely for the sake of joy.

There are, however, other ways to walk. Fleeing an attacker may save your life; walking to work or on a treadmill improves your health; striding with your hound keeps both of you vibrant. One may walk for pleasure alone, or because it is a necessity in life.

So too the eating of food. For some in our world food is plentiful enough that the chef's table is an extravagance far beyond survival. For hundreds of millions, though, there will be no meal today, and possibly no meal for many days. For them the chef's table is out of reach. Some walk for pleasure, some to save their lives. We live in a world of extremes, of seemingly polar opposites. And yet, regarding food one thread is woven through all of these stories - food is life to us. Whether it be as simple as a boiled potato or as grand as Chef Niki Nakayama's exquisite kaiseki cuisine - food gives life.

Next week we look at food from the grower's perspective. Until then I leave the last word to Wolfgang Puck:

A chef is a mixture maybe of artistry and craft.

You have to learn the craft really to get there. 

(Wolfgang Puck)

The color of food...sensuality of the palate.

close your eyes

breathe

and taste

open your eyes

see

and taste

open your hands

touch

and taste

To Ponder Further:

- From the Bible: "A sated man loathes honey, But to a famished man any bitter thing is sweet." (Proverbs 27.7)

- From Buddhism: "
At the openings of ant hills
Please have trustworthy men
Always put food and water,
Sugar and piles of grain.

Before and after taking food
Offer appropriate fare
To hungry ghosts, dogs,
Ants, birds, and so forth.
(Nagarjuna, Precious Garland 249-50)

- From Sioux wisdom: " The buffalo, as the source of food, clothing, and all life's necessities for the Sioux, represents Mother Earth herself." (Sioux Prayer)

The Color of Hearing

I have been blessed with a genetic disposition for deteriorating hearing. In fact, I am the only male in my immediate family who does not have hearing aids... yet. To be clear, I am not deaf, and in certain frequency ranges I hear quite well. Some sounds, however, like the general pitch of my wife's voice, and I really do not mean it as a joke, are challenging for me to pick up. Consequently, I frequently ask Anna, and other speakers, to repeat themselves. 

I appreciate that this may get a bit tiresome, planning to say everything twice. The obvious fix to this issue is the purchase of some good quality hearing aids. Herein is the crux of my writing - I resist using hearing aids. It is not vanity that deters my purchase, nor cost. I resist because I know that when I commit myself to the use of a prosthetic I am forfeiting the freedom and joy that is the birthright of our natural abilities.

I hear well enough - I get by. I can still hear the swish of wings cutting the air when the Canadian Geese fly low overhead in the fall. I can hear a bee buzzing in the apple blossoms in the the spring. When Anna has my attention, and I'm looking at her, I take in and savour every word. I do forgo though some of the high-range sounds in music, the whisper of a breeze in the long grasses, the trickle of water laughing in the creek. I know those sounds exist for when I cup my hands behind my ears I taste in my mind's eye sounds that I've almost forgotten.

“If I were deaf, I’d wear loud clothing.

My clothes would also be covered in coffee stains,

because Helen Keller is my hero.” 

(Jarod Kintz, I love Blue Ribbon Coffee)

Many people have less than stellar hearing, and even those with hearing aids do not always catch all of the conversation. Those of us with hearing loss are not trying to aggravate the world, we are doing our best to navigate a very noisy world through the lens of rather foggy discernment. Sometimes I sense judgement from speakers whose words I did not quite pick up. My "pardon" or "I'm sorry, what was that..." often elicits a response of frustration flavored with condemnation. Perhaps some speakers do not understand the incredible honor that those with hearing loss are bestowing upon them when they ask for something to be repeated. We are saying, with humility, that your words are incredibly important to us - every word, every nuance. Please say again,  so we may delight in your voice, your thoughts, your heart.

When next you converse with someone whose hearing is not so acute I counsel you to patience. There is a very good chance they are not trying to be rude, that they do not desire to ignore you, but that the mechanism of hearing is simply malfunctioning. If what you are saying is worth saying once, it is worth repeating at least once.

I leave the last word to FRAN:

The color of hearing...

the sound of silence.

to the colorblind

all shades

of grey

are

delicious

in hearing loss

volume

gives the world

color

Be gentle

breathe deeply

Listen long

The Color of Peace

“An eye for an eye

will only make the whole world blind.” 

(Mahatma Gandhi)

I appreciate the endless variety of music available on YouTube, especially the meditation playlists I have compiled. In order, however, to listen to Ashana's, Deep Peace, I have to endure Kate Upton's commercial for the online video game called, Game of War. "Play it now for free..." Kate announces. I have repeatedly heard the siren call to join the combatant culture, and have equally often dismissed it from my thoughts; until today. 

Recently, I brought up my playlist, tapped on a song, and Kate Upton's voice broke through the fog of my thoughts with "game of war, play it now for free." This time I heard Kate - heard her, and our culture, and many cultures before us, call out with an invitation to turn violence and destruction into a contest, a game. I heard the call and can say that I am truly tired of hearing it.

“Peace cannot be kept by force;

it can only be achieved by understanding.” 

(Albert Einstein)

I am beginning to understand that humanity has upon its being the imprint of something divine, the touch of a power so vast it created the singularity from which all that is has come. We are a species that has only scratched the surface of our potential, barely glimpsed at the what we can do in this universe when Love empowers us. Nonetheless, with all of this unexplored, untapped potential we continue to wallow in the foolishness of violence.

“Dad, how do soldiers killing each other

solve the world's problems?” 

(Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes)

Humanity stands poised to destroy itself, or to evolve into the beings that Love intends us to be. We really do face the possibility of healing the hurts we have caused, of partnering with the earth to experience life abundant. To do so though, we must turn away from our obsession with war and combat. Our birthing beyond our current limitations requires that we grow beyond the primal hind-brain instincts of our fore-bearers. 

Our Sacred writings call us to be self-aware, to awaken, to be en-lightened - that is, filled with Light. So be it; in this day, when you feel inclined to react with conflict, to absorb the media's trauma stories, or when the violence of movies, games, or the lure of testosterone beckons... pause, breathe deeply, and listen to the sounds of Spirit whispering peace and calm. To this we are called; for this we are created - to be people of peace.

I leave the last word to the writer of the Psalms:

"Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it."

(Psalm 34.14)

The color of peace...

humanity's destiny.

To one holding a hammer

everthing

is a

nail

To the dove

all the

world

is an

olive branch

Pause

Breathe

Listen

To Ponder Further:

- From the Bible: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you." (Christianity, John 14.27)

- Buddhism: "This is peace, this is the excellent, namely the calm of all the impulses, the casting out of all "basis," the extinction of craving, dispassion, stopping, Nirvana." (Buddhism. Anguttara Nikaya v.322)

- From Sikhism: "If a man sings of God and hears of Him, and lets love of God sprout within him, All his sorrows shall vanish, And in his mind, God will bestow abiding peace." (Sikhism. Adi Granth, Japuji 5, M.1, p. 2)

The Color of Stillness

"I'm in a hurry to get things done, I rush and rush until life's no fun..."

(Song: I'm In A Hurry And Don't Know Why by Alabama)

Does this sound familiar: 

Breakfast meeting at 7am, back to the office (or wherever "work" is), hectic day at work, stop at the grocery store on the way home to pick up much needed groceries, go home and make supper, clean up, walk the dog (or feed livestock), head out of town for an evening meeting, arrive home at 10:30pm, check email and respond to several notes that have been impatiently waiting for a reply, have a snack, and fall into bed so that you can get up tomorrow to do it all again; and it's only Monday! Meanwhile your spouse had a similar schedule that included running the kids to hockey, dance, soccer, and a dentist appointment. 

Sometimes it feels as though the days are flying by at fast-forward, everything moving at a frenetic pace. We wake up Monday morning, blink once or twice and find ourselves at Saturday evening wondering where the week went. And it's not that the individual pieces that make up a week are unpleasant or undesirable - not at all. In my case I have an amazing job, a wild variety of personal interests, and a wonderful community of family and friends. It's just that... well, when I put it all together, work, family, personal health, community interests, and that crazy Jack Russell Terrier... there are times I would just like to hit the pause button and sit for a spell.

"Be still and know that I am God"

(Psalm 46.10)

Be still... yeah. One of the challenges we face is being present to whatever it is that the current moment holds. The temptation is to be scanning the horizon, prepping for the next commitment on the docket, and in so doing, miss the awesome beauty and opportunity that is unfolding before us. One of the ways that I slow down and breathe is to go for a walk in the valley south of Camrose. Max and I have spent countless hours on those trails, Max hunting rabbits, and I hunting solitude. You know what happens though at times? I start thinking about the next thing on the slate - "got to get home, change clothes, and run off to a council meeting." When this happens I have forfeited the present for the illusion of the future; a very poor exchange if you ask me.

"Be still.

Stillness reveals the secrets of eternity."

(Lao Tzu)

I think that what I really want is not to have less experiences in my life (I have too much energy not to give life all I've got and receive all that life offers), but rather to fully experience what I am engaging at any given moment. Perhaps what we all desire is to be aware of and open to all that Love is doing in, with, and through us right now. Rather than worrying about, or rushing into the next thing coming up, we could savour and deeply enjoy the delicious flavors of now. 

To do so requires that we release being anxious about the next thing, worrying about the bumps on the road ahead, even letting go of anticipation of tomorrow. It requires joining the Psalmist in stilling our thoughts and heart and soul to just be. For me it means just being with my family, with the dog, with supper, with community; just being in the driver's seat behind a slow-moving vehicle... just being. 

Our society's not likely to slow it's pace any time in the near future, but we can choose to steal moments in our day to  breathe deeply, to listen, to see, to inhale life's aroma, and to feel eternity wrap around us. With Spirit's empowerment now can be all that there is, richly and beautifully. So right now I am writing this, thinking of you, and praying that your day is filled with moments that completely flood your awareness. 

I leave the last word to E'yen A. Gardner:

"Being still does not mean don't move; 

it means move in peace."

I watched

a little girl

chasing

a

butterfly

Time

stood

still

eternity

erupted

pray

breathe

be

Musings for Funeral Businesses…

By Catherine Betley | February 2, 2016
(Accessed at: http://www.professionalhelp.org.uk/2016/02/musings-for-funeral-businesses/)

(This post was originally written for an industry blog, but will hopefully be of interest to others in funeral and end of life care organisations).

Do you sometimes wish you could do more for bereaved families?

Not in the sense of the actual funeral arrangements, which naturally will be carried out to the best of your (and your company’s) ability, but more to help the distressed family or individual in front of you to carry the burden of bereavement. I have talked at length over the past few years with many funeral directors who have expressed a wish to be able to ‘do more’ to support their clients within the resources that they have available.

We know that bereavement is one of life’s great stresses and while many people get through the very acute grieving period with the help of family and friends, some of us will need a little extra support to help us to come to terms with our ‘new normal’ and all that the death of the person we loved means for us. A wise man once said that bereavement is all about the relationship that has been lost, and when we can answer the question ‘what have I lost?’ (and understand that this could mean love and affection, our home, financial stability, hopes and dreams or a thousand other losses) only then can we understand the impact of the bereavement on our lives and begin to find new meaning.

Although funeral services staff witness the difficult experiences of death and bereavement on a daily basis and may be somewhat accustomed to this, they are not immune to the distress of those they serve. What does strike me however, is how often funeral staff are themselves largely unsupported, even though they offer such important emotional first aid to their clients at this most difficult time. Added to this, any funeral director will tell you that some deaths strike ‘closer to home’ than others, or may have a special resonance or poignancy that means they stay with them for longer, or are more upsetting or more difficult to leave at the door of the workplace.

So how can we offer better bereavement support to our clients and at the same time ensure that we support ourselves? The answer is not a simple one and as with everything in life depends on the time and resources you have available. Let’s start with information – bereaved people need information and wherever possible education about grief, its potential effects and how to find additional support should it be needed. Start with your website – every funeral director should have good quality, well written information for bereaved people about grief and sources of additional support after bereavement. If you can’t write this yourself, find someone who can or even copy something that is already out there – anything on the internet is in the public domain, so as long as you acknowledge the source of the information you should not find yourself in difficulty. Next, consider offering clients leaflets, or even a reading list with website links and useful resources; there are some excellent ones out there. Google your local bereavement organisations – they will be charities, church groups or based in hospices or hospitals. Many NHS Acute Trusts have a bereavement service – where possible make a local connection and ask who else is out there to help you support bereaved families. Use the resources offered by large charities such as Cruse Bereavement Care and Child Bereavement UK – they are normally free and often downloadable. If you would still like to do more, consider setting up a coffee morning for bereaved families, or even a bereavement group or grief education course such as those offered by Grief Journey. These are much more resource intensive, but if there is little other provision in your community then they will pay dividends in terms of community profile, customer retention and also job satisfaction.

The key to improving bereavement care is planning – thinking about what support you have observed that people want and need – and of course budget. Sadly, very little comes for free these days, but as a hallmark of a caring business, offering good bereavement care to your clients should more than pay for itself. Likewise, make sure you offer the same opportunities of care for your staff; access the resources that are already out there through member organisations – for independent funeral directors SAIF offers ‘SAIFSupport’ a free counselling service for staff from member businesses – or if you cannot access these then consider buying into an employee care scheme, or ensuring that staff have emotional support from a manager, chaplain or other appropriate person. By improving care for funeral services staff, you will ensure that bereaved families experience the very best service that your business can offer.

The Color of Worry

“I promise you

nothing is as chaotic as it seems.

Nothing is worth diminishing your health.

Nothing is worth poisoning yourself

into stress, anxiety, and fear.”

(Steve Maraboli, Un-apologetically You)

You know how it is... there's snow to shovel, or (in summer) the grass needs mowing, something on a vehicle or in the house needs fixing, you haven't visited "what's-her-lips" in a coon's age, the laundry's waiting, your paying job wants you to work overtime, and it feels like you just can't keep up.

Ever been in that boat - where keeping everything fixed, cleaned, organized, and attended-to takes more than you have in you? Stress builds up, sleep is hard to come by, and every part of your body is screaming at you that you need to breathe and slow down before your ticker blows a gasket.

Anna and I have rowed this boat off and on over the years. We have occasionally stopped mid-stream to ask ourselves a question that stops the boat from spinning for a moment: "will any of this worry matter in 20 years?" Well, some of what we do today will impact the road ahead - the forgiveness that we initiate; kindness to a neighbor; standing up to something that is unjust; the day-to-day care of family and friends; these things are stones cast into the waters of life that create long-lasting ripples.

Consider though, all of the worry we generate around our day-to-day living. Drive faster 'cause we might be five minutes late. Really?! In 20 years that will matter to anyone? We get ourselves all tied up in knots over aspects of our day that have no power to improve our quality of life. There are things that do need to be done to live well, and then there is all the rest that, 20 years down the road, will be long forgotten - dust in the attic of life's memories.

We have burdened ourselves in North America in our obsession with stuff, a burden wherein we feel obligated to attend to this stuff. We pour hours and hours of our life into fixing, buying, cleaning, organizing... meanwhile the lonely languish, the hungry starve, and victims suffer... and the years keep rolling by.

“Where'd the days go,

when all we did was play?

And the stress that we were under

wasn't stress at all,

just a run and a jump into a harmless fall”

(Paolo Nutini)

We could, however, stop caring about the unimportant bits, and choose instead to be attentive to the rich life possible for any who seek it. This is a life in which care of self becomes the model for care of our neighbor. This is the life in which "new and bigger" takes a back seat to coffee with a friend, a walk at sunset, or a meal with someone who is lonely. I experience that the richness of life is not in the rat-race for more money or more stuff - or for more busyness. Rich life is being present to the beauty of a moment, being aware of the plight of those I meet, using my gifts right now to do what I can to encourage others, to heal our world.

If you are feeling like the demands of life are eating away at you perhaps you need to ask, "will this matter in 20 years?" and "does this really improve my quality of life right now?" If the answer to either question is "no" then I'd be inclined to say, "let it go; it's not worth the stress."

YOU are beautiful, and the world needs your beauty to shine as brightly as it can, for there is only one of you, only one person with your gifts and wisdom, only one who can change the world for the better as you can. So let go of anything that holds you back; be attentive to what is truly of value in your day.

I leave the last word to Jesus, who in the midst of great burdens breathed deep:

"Therefore I tell you,

do not worry about your life,

what you will eat or drink;

or about your body, what you will wear.

Is not life more important than food,

and the body more important than clothes?"

(Matthew 6:25-34)

A seedling

sprouts

and flourishes

not in the

shadow

but rather

in the

sun

Be in the

Light

for you

are

Light

Laugh

Play

Breathe