When my parents had folks over for supper, the get-togethers weren’t fancy, but the food was superb. A standard evening might consist of my mom’s tantalizing pot roast accompanied by bread, green beans and salad.
The whole thing would start with cheese and crackers and end with ice cream and coffee. Everyone ate their fill and leftovers were few and far between.
Today, though, things have gotten terribly complicated. If you want to invite folks to supper, you often must discretely inquire ahead of time about their food preferences.
I’m not talking about allergies here, as those are serious business indeed, but rather the whims of an increasingly food-obsessed society.
My mother’s simple get-together would be a disaster today. The vegans would steadfastly refuse to touch the pot roast, the cheese and the ice cream. The organic-only crew would cast a suspicious eye at the veggies, wondering about the soil they were produced in, while the raw-food crowd would eat nothing but the salad.
And when it was time for dessert someone might question whether the coffee was grown in the shade and the ice cream made from happy, hormone-free cows.
Now, it’s one thing if someone is overweight and trying to reduce their intake of fatty and starchy foods, but for many people today food has become a new religion.
Some embrace the belief that the world would be a much better place if no one ate animal flesh. Others shun milk products as extremely dangerous and sing the praises of soy substitutes, raising them to the level of deities.
Food aisles are jammed with pricey products proclaiming the latest messages of salvation: meatless, salt-free, sugar-free, fat-free, gluten-free!
Years ago, my husband and I volunteered helping Mother Teresa’s sisters as they were preparing an Atlanta home for women with AIDS. These simple sisters lived entirely on donations and ate whatever was given them.
Some days it might have been peanut butter sandwiches for supper. Other days, if some volunteer felt like being especially generous, the sisters had a barbecue.
These humble ladies never looked the proverbial gift horse — or cow — in the mouth. Instead, they bowed their heads and said the blessing.
Jesus multiplied fish and loaves of bread to feed the crowds, but today some folks would shun the miracle because of their dietary preferences. As for the Last Supper — which included lamb — Jesus would have to provide a meatless dish as well.
I know people get touchy about food. I was once a vegetarian myself, and many hostesses were perplexed about what in the world to feed me. I recall being invited to a barbecue and fretting because I might be expected to eat (horrors!) a steak.
I also had houseguests who confessed, years after the fact, that after a few days of meatless meals at our home, they would sneak out to get burgers because they were starving.
As Thanksgiving approaches, it’s good to reflect on that simple line from the Lord’s Prayer “Give us this day our daily bread.”
The words bespeak gratitude for having enough to survive on, whether it’s a potato, a pork chop or a pie. They call us to eat whatever is put before us — and thank God we’re not going hungry like so many in the world.
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