I’m following along with the Bloom Book Club discussion (click here to see the video for chapter one) of my current favorite book and adding my (extensive) thoughts here because, you know, there’s a character limit on leaving comments and I’m nothing if not concise. Except that I’m totally not concise.
I dislike cooking. It’s a constant source of frustration for me, meal planning. And as I read through 7 I felt a bit shamed, not shamed as in “someone called me mean names in public” but more like a gentle chastisement. Meal planning is a constant source of frustration for me not because of a lack of choices but rather an abundance of them. I am frustrated at the extensive options available to me.
Like I said. Shamed.
Because of the people who don’t choose to eat 7 foods as a form of fasting and prayerfulness but rather because those are their only limited options. The options they give thanks for as they literally break bread, crumbling and hard.
What I took away from the book 7 was the idea that I have a vast accessibility to much. There have been tough times, to be sure and even now we do without fancy things like “cable” and “air conditioning in the car” and still what is found here is plentiful.
I take the canister of whole grain oats and place it in the recycling bin as I press it’s former contents into granola bar shapes in the baking pan. There are changes here, an appreciation for this body and this health and an attentiveness to cultivating both. A respect for the earth that grows our food, where I’ve plucked the fresh strawberries and will save one more canister from a landfill so there is room for more fruit to grow.
They are small and they are subtle and they don’t look exactly like the book, but instead they look like a purposed intention. To put hand to mouth with a hope that most of the time the heart will be reminded what true nourishment looks like: Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see— how good God is. Psalm 34:8
As I wondered what improvements I could make here, I read this post by my friend Hayley on buying extra for a food pantry each month and found it completely inspiring. Another small change for grocery day but a big change for my heart.
