The Hidden Gospel

One of my favorite classes from high school was Creative Writing. It was the first time I wrote and designed a menu - a skill I didn't know at the time I would turn into a full-time job, and the first time I learned about Satire, reading A Modest Proposal. If you haven't read it, it is a satirical essay written by Jonathan Swift in 1729, suggesting eating children as a solution to the problem of poverty in Ireland: "For Preventing the Children of the Poor People in Ireland From Being a Burden to Their Parents or Country, and For Making Them Beneficial to The Public." He puts it this way:  "I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well-nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled..."  I didn't enjoy the Satire module. I don't even remember what I wrote about - I didn't get the point of writing something that wasn...

There are a few moments from my early school days that stand out to me like a highlighted page, vivid as neon yellow. My mind's notebook is scribbled with facts and images about significant moments I had in the classroom; like the day I learned how to make homemade root beer with solid carbon dioxide in the form of dry ice, and that if you put a copper penny on a piece of dry ice it makes Abraham Lincoln dance.  Lyrics from  Calculus: The Musical   still sometimes get stuck in my head when I hear the word 'Derive'. (Go ahead and say what you're thinking - I'm a nerd).   The anatomical parts of a rolly polly are sketched in the pages of the day I collected hundreds of them off our kitchen floor.  (Fact: Rolly pollys can and will escape a container covered in plastic wrap with air holes; mothers disapprove) .  Nothing excited me quite so much as seeing that big, blocky TV being rolled in with the promise of an afternoon filled with Bill Nye the Science G...

Sun Tzu said: All warfare is based on deception.   The War Stories on my desk have been Inspiring me lately. Maybe it's because I Find something Beautiful in them. Maybe it's because I Find nothing Beautiful in them. Either way, the Inspiration in my soul to Seek and Find Him there seems to be lining up with what God had to say .  I've spent a good part of my life on the battlefield of my mind. I've lost many battles, but I've also won a few. The Upside-Down truth of my War Stories is that my victories usually come through Surrender. But not to my Enemy; to my Commander. I like to imagine - believe, even - that Jesus was hanging on His cross with not just vinegar and Psalm 22 on His lips, but the words, "I see you, daughter. Me, too."  My husband and I spent our Fourth of July building Lego and watching The Hunger Games saga (all 9 hours' worth). I forgot how barbaric it was. And how Inspiring.  Just like when I'm reading my Bible, I tend to take p...

Let's pick it back up in the Middle with an image of Beauty in   the War, and see if it leads us to the Center. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. (Psalm 23:5, NIV) I've spent the last 7 years Preparing Tables.  Beautiful  tables, carefully and Intentionally laid out for guests to celebrate a special union between Lovers. We spent hours Mapping out each detail; we considered the table coverings, the china, flatware, and glassware, the napkins, florals and centerpieces, candles, and stationary. A wedding favor sometimes accompanied these place settings - a small gift of gratitude for the guests' presence - and, of course, we made sure to leave room for baskets overflowing with fresh, homemade bread.  One thing we  never  set the tables with?  Salt. We would provide it when asked for, but our chef preferred guests to experience the food how she Intended.  There is a Story in The Holy Bible where Jesus calls  peopl...