May 17th, 2009
It has been my recent good fortune to be able to celebrate a couple of anniversaries, and from these parties, to enjoy some pretty delicious cakes. Now, I am not necessarily a cake expert, but I know what I like, and the last couple of cakes were terrific, partly because the baked part was nice and moist and tasty, but most because the icing was perfect.
To some folks, icing is icing, but to me, it has to be just right, or else the whole baked dessert thing is completely off. Yes, that might sound petty, but you have to understand that the doughy part of the cake is simply the price you have to pay for enjoying good icing. In other words, I love good icing, and would be perfectly happy without the rest of the cake.
Of course, it has to be really good icing. It has to be butter-based, of course, and not to sweet, and not too heavy, and preferably either chocolate or vanilla. No other flavours will do. I just ask for the basics: a creamy consistency, fluffy texture, and not too much sugar. Mind you, I am not entirely prejudiced to butter icing. No, a good, tart chocolate ganache, one of those nice smooth toppings usually found on your higher end desserts, is also a good candidate for my having a happy cake (or even cakeless) experience.
Such decadent tastes, however, are not my major way of being. Only when it comes to cakes and icing do I have such rich expectations. In most other things I tend towards quality and substance. Furthermore, I am fully aware of the fact that I sometimes prefer the exterior dressing, aka the icing, to the true heart of the matter, which is the cake. In most other things, I think I have my priorities pretty straight.
Take faith, for example. Faith is often confused with religious practice, which is, in reality, just the icing on the cake. By religious practice I mean the things we do that look good, or sound holy, but are only the external trappings we humans need to help us get our heads around a Godly experience. Faith, as I see it, is the core of our existence and our relationship with God. We believe in a heavenly creator, as Christians we believe in His living, physical presence, and everything we do hangs on that core.
Sometimes, however, the practices around our faith are confused, or perhaps even put ahead of, the core concepts. That means that the icing takes over from the cake; we look to the external things and forget the internal matters. As a result, faith becomes little more than a sickly sweet experience that looks good, tastes great, but neither endures nor feeds. Rather than forming a central pillar of life, one that is dependable under all circumstances, it becomes window dressing, something that looks great, but doesn’t live up to it’s promise.
God’s intent for faith is not that it simply looks good. It’s not meant to be the icing on existence, but its main meaning and purpose. It isn’t just about religious practices on Sunday morning. To believe in God means to live by God full time, not just when it suits us, and certainly not because it looks good on a resume, or in our public life. Living by faith means to dig right into the whole depth and breadth of what God offers us, allowing His love to guide us, His Word to feed us and His grace to keep us going. Anything less means confusing the icing for the cake. At least that’s the way I see it.
May 10th, 2009
My Father’s family was not known for subtlety. Nonno Giovanni, (grandfather John) loved bright colours, especially red, and was more likely than not to paint anything, from clocks to light-switch plates, that colour. Then, not satisfied with one colour, he would adorn his paint-job with yellow and green frilly bits, just because. He was also the one most likely to turn forks, corks and napkins into a vast array of toys and modes of entertainment for we kids in the crowd, much to the very loud dismay of my grandmother, Nonna Olga.
Mind you, it wasn’t just Nonno’s dinner time antics that provoked noisy discussion between him and Nonna. Just about any topic worth talking about, from what was for breakfast to who to vote for was worth doing with lots of yelling and depending on the occasion, laughter. Subtlety is not in my father’s bloodline.
Nonna Olga, however, took the cake, especially when my aunt, Zia Marcella was around. Had Zia Marcella not become a nun, I’m sure she would have been a comedian. As it is, she is one of the happiest, funniest (in good way) servants God has ever known. With this in mind, you can see how, together with my Nonna, all subtlety, (and often dignity) went out the window.
The best example of their over the top behaviour was seen whenever Nonna was about to make her entrance. Whether it was first thing in the morning, or after her nap, my Nonna entering the room was like a comic opera of noise and laughter. Zia Marcella would loudly, proudly announce every step of the operation. The Nonna is awake! (a little louder) The Nonna is washing! The Nonna is dressing! The Nonna is coming down the hall! And then, finally, with the biggest flourish of all, The Nonna is here!!! All of which was accompanied by the outrageously loud laughter and commentary of The Nonna herself. A Three Ring Circus had nothing on the Giurin family spectacle.
Now, as yo might expect, as a servant of God, I try my best to honour our Lord, in a way the honours who I am. Thus subltey is not always in the cards for me. Jesus, however, is often very subtle in the way He enters our lives. Far from His proclaim His every step proclaimed with great fanfare, He comes to us quietly and without fanfare. It’s in the loving touch one friend offers another at just the right moment. He’s a stranger knocking at our door. He’s a child in search of a lap or a thirsty one needing water. Sometimes His presence is even more subtle; sometimes it is in simply in the silent words of unspoken prayers we aren’t even aware of as being a conversation with God. Sometimes, in the most subtle and yet wonderful way of all, Jesus is there in our pain, not shielding us from it, but bearing it with us.
To know this in our heads is not necessarily to feel it in our hearts. It takes a bit of effort on our parts to really recognize those moments when Christ is with us, when He has arrived. But as we get our head knowledge down into a heart-understanding, we begin to realize that far from Jesus just making an occasional appearance in our lives, He is with us every moment God grants us. Without a grand a entrance, noise and fuss, without so much as a laughing aunt, Jesus is always with us, if we are open to His presence. At least that’s the way I see it.
My Father’s family was not known for subtlety. Nonno Giovanni, (grandfather John) loved bright colours, especially red, and was more likely than not to paint anything, from clocks to light-switch plates, that colour. Then, not satisfied with one colour, he would adorn his paint-job with yellow and green frilly bits, just because. He was also the one most likely to turn forks, corks and napkins into a vast array of toys and modes of entertainment for we kids in the crowd, much to the very loud dismay of my grandmother, Nonna Olga.
Mind you, it wasn’t just Nonno’s dinner time antics that provoked noisy discussion between him and Nonna. Just about any topic worth talking about, from what was for breakfast to who to vote for was worth doing with lots of yelling and depending on the occasion, laughter. Subtlety is not in my father’s bloodline.
Nonna Olga, however, took the cake, especially when my aunt, Zia Marcella was around. Had Zia Marcella not become a nun, I’m sure she would have been a comedian. As it is, she is one of the happiest, funniest (in good way) servants God has ever known. With this in mind, you can see how, together with my Nonna, all subtlety, (and often dignity) went out the window.
The best example of their over the top behaviour was seen whenever Nonna was about to make her entrance. Whether it was first thing in the morning, or after her nap, my Nonna entering the room was like a comic opera of noise and laughter. Zia Marcella would loudly, proudly announce every step of the operation. The Nonna is awake! (a little louder) The Nonna is washing! The Nonna is dressing! The Nonna is coming down the hall! And then, finally, with the biggest flourish of all, The Nonna is here!!! All of which was accompanied by the outrageously loud laughter and commentary of The Nonna herself. A Three Ring Circus had nothing on the Giurin family spectacle.
Now, as yo might expect, as a servant of God, I try my best to honour our Lord, in a way the honours who I am. Thus subltey is not always in the cards for me. Jesus, however, is often very subtle in the way He enters our lives. Far from His proclaim His every step proclaimed with great fanfare, He comes to us quietly and without fanfare. It’s in the loving touch one friend offers another at just the right moment. He’s a stranger knocking at our door. He’s a child in search of a lap or a thirsty one needing water. Sometimes His presence is even more subtle; sometimes it is in simply in the silent words of unspoken prayers we aren’t even aware of as being a conversation with God. Sometimes, in the most subtle and yet wonderful way of all, Jesus is there in our pain, not shielding us from it, but bearing it with us.
To know this in our heads is not necessarily to feel it in our hearts. It takes a bit of effort on our parts to really recognize those moments when Christ is with us, when He has arrived. But as we get our head knowledge down into a heart-understanding, we begin to realize that far from Jesus just making an occasional appearance in our lives, He is with us every moment God grants us. Without a grand a entrance, noise and fuss, without so much as a laughing aunt, Jesus is always with us, if we are open to His presence. At least that’s the way I see it.
May 3rd, 2009
There’s a TV show called “Deal or no Deal.” It’s a pretty simple show that involves no skill from the participant. One at a time, players choose one of 26 cases, each with the promise of anything from 1 cent to 1 Million dollars. The object of the game is to choose the remaining cases, see what’s inside, and hope that at the end of the game, yours is the case with the million bucks. To make things interesting, a “banker” periodically offers you a variable amount of money in the hopes that you’ll drop out of the game, depending on the odds that you have the winning case in your possession. The challenge is one of nerves; the banker might see that your odds are good at winning the big prize, and thus offer you a good deal to walk away. Or he might have you over the barrel, with very low odds of you winning, and thus offer you a pittance, which, if you only have 1 penny in your case, might be better than nothing.
So far only one person has been victorious and taken home the whole million dollars. Everyone else has settled for less, either because they were too frightened, or because they realized the jig was up and they better walk away. Sure, some folks leave with hundreds of thousands of dollars, but most don’t. In fact, I find it hard to find any clear winners, partly because of the money they’ve received, and partly because I find the whole concept to be a losing proposition right from the start.
First off, there’s no real competition. Oh, the banker might seem mean, but really, he’s just a number counter, busy calculating the odds for or against the player winning. Secondly, there is no skill involved. There are no brain teasers to answer, no problems to solve, nothing at all to stimulate the intellect, either of the player or the viewer. In short, it’s not much more than glorified gambling, and that for me means it’s neither a game nor does it serve any useful purpose. After all, it’s just playing on the human desire to get something for nothing.
That desire is not healthy, helpful, or even holy. To ask God for something without putting in the blood, sweat and tears of a deep and abounding faith doesn’t accomplish anything. In fact, treating God like He’s just a servant at a fast food counter isn’t much of a winning proposition. We are expected to work for what we have on this earth. It doesn’t come for free. We have to till the land, make our clothes, build our homes and generally do what has to be done to survive.
At the same time, however, God is more than willing to give us something in return for nothing, and it’s a sure bet. That something is love, in the form of forgiveness and mercy. Love comes to us as God’s undivided attention to us, and through the work of Jesus and the Holy Spirit in our lives. These things require nothing of us, other than a commitment to live by and give away those very things ourselves. It might not make any sense from a practical point of view. Bankers and accountants and even game show hosts might not see any advantage to God’s incredible generosity, but those who have experienced for themselves know that there is no better deal anywhere in creation. At least that’s the way I see it.
There’s a TV show called “Deal or no Deal.” It’s a pretty simple show that involves no skill from the participant. One at a time, players choose one of 26 cases, each with the promise of anything from 1 cent to 1 Million dollars. The object of the game is to choose the remaining cases, see what’s inside, and hope that at the end of the game, yours is the case with the million bucks. To make things interesting, a “banker” periodically offers you a variable amount of money in the hopes that you’ll drop out of the game, depending on the odds that you have the winning case in your possession. The challenge is one of nerves; the banker might see that your odds are good at winning the big prize, and thus offer you a good deal to walk away. Or he might have you over the barrel, with very low odds of you winning, and thus offer you a pittance, which, if you only have 1 penny in your case, might be better than nothing.
So far only one person has been victorious and taken home the whole million dollars. Everyone else has settled for less, either because they were too frightened, or because they realized the jig was up and they better walk away. Sure, some folks leave with hundreds of thousands of dollars, but most don’t. In fact, I find it hard to find any clear winners, partly because of the money they’ve received, and partly because I find the whole concept to be a losing proposition right from the start.
First off, there’s no real competition. Oh, the banker might seem mean, but really, he’s just a number counter, busy calculating the odds for or against the player winning. Secondly, there is no skill involved. There are no brain teasers to answer, no problems to solve, nothing at all to stimulate the intellect, either of the player or the viewer. In short, it’s not much more than glorified gambling, and that for me means it’s neither a game nor does it serve any useful purpose. After all, it’s just playing on the human desire to get something for nothing.
That desire is not healthy, helpful, or even holy. To ask God for something without putting in the blood, sweat and tears of a deep and abounding faith doesn’t accomplish anything. In fact, treating God like He’s just a servant at a fast food counter isn’t much of a winning proposition. We are expected to work for what we have on this earth. It doesn’t come for free. We have to till the land, make our clothes, build our homes and generally do what has to be done to survive.
At the same time, however, God is more than willing to give us something in return for nothing, and it’s a sure bet. That something is love, in the form of forgiveness and mercy. Love comes to us as God’s undivided attention to us, and through the work of Jesus and the Holy Spirit in our lives. These things require nothing of us, other than a commitment to live by and give away those very things ourselves. It might not make any sense from a practical point of view. Bankers and accountants and even game show hosts might not see any advantage to God’s incredible generosity, but those who have experienced for themselves know that there is no better deal anywhere in creation. At least that’s the way I see it.
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