Meet Him in the Kitchen

I love the kitchen. I feel at home and confident when I'm cooking. I feel as though I share my love the best when I'm feeding people. It's the place where, not to be dramatic, I meet God. Sure, I find Him in nature too, but that's an easy one, and he’s busy with lots of people out there; and also I sunburn easily. But the creative spirit that lives in each of us, that many people find in a paintbrush or canvas, I find in the kitchen.

We won’t over analyze this affection as a way I’m attempting to have control over something, though that certainly has some traction.  But there wouldn’t be entire channels, organizations, and endless dreamers at the Culinary Institute of America if this was simply about a need for control. This notion of feeding others, and feeding them beautifully has a long history. From the kitchens of old, the falling apart cookbooks and tattered recipe cards, the oral traditions of family secret ingredients, this spirit carries on.

This Thanksgiving week, in particular, I consider the kitchens that will welcome others with full countertops and stoves. I also wonder about the kitchens that don’t have others to welcome, the stoves that will remain cold, and those that have other traditions during this time. Each experience comes with good things and hard things. Full dining rooms do not always equal joy and comfort and meals for one do not always equal lonely hearts. However, there is an opportunity to meet God in whatever your experience is this year. As you prepare for others, as you prepare for yourself, as you get creative in the kitchen, as you create a time honored dish, as you bow your head in thanks at the end of the day, take a moment to meet with the Creator wherever you are.