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Dalton
Roberts |
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In the Hebrew Torah there is a very interesting section that describes the manna God fed to the people during their time in the wilderness. It would assume any taste they desired! God said, “You lacked nothing the forty years you were in the desert.” Which was a way of saying, “I take care of you even in your most barren times.” Then He reminded them that one way they were taken care of was by letting their own minds determine the taste of their manna. You cannot have it any better than that. And the good news is that is exactly how life works. Finicky eaters are always telling me what they don’t like to eat: “Oh, I just can’t stand the taste of this and I don’t like that.” I cannot understand this. I would think my taste buds are built like theirs and I love foods of all kinds. When I get a chance to try a new taste, I really get excited. None of this happened accidentally. From childhood I set my mind to explore as many things as I could in this life. And tasting is a big part of that exploration, whether it is tasting food or tasting a poem. I can easily spend an hour savoring one new word. Every time I think of the Hopi word “lolomi,” which means “all things too beautiful to be described in words,” I go into a meditative trance for a while. What a great-tasting word! When I played the Lowell, Massachusetts Folk Festival they had a row of eating stands with flavors from all over the world. On my breaks each day I rushed over there to try Vietnamese, Polynesian and all the wonderful taste treats. My enjoyment was directly related to my attitude of being open to new flavors. That is the way life works. Our mindset determines how things are to us whether it is the taste of food or the enjoyment of any other earthly or heavenly pleasure. The word “faith” in the world’s scriptures actually means “mindset.” So the verse “Faith is the substance of things unseen” can actually be translated, “Your mindset determines how much you enjoy things you haven’t seen. It is actually the substance itself.” What did manna taste like when they weren’t thinking of anything? The Torah says if you do not think, it does not have flavor. To really taste this life, we must think. One day when I was wolfing down a hotdog on a break at an outdoor concert I suddenly realized that I was not even tasting what I was eating. Maybe hotdogs aren’t so good for us but if we are going to eat one, why not taste all the flavors – the mustard, relish or chili, mayo, catsup and meat? That is some mighty fine tasting! The Torah gives a good suggestion: use the Sabbath to practice tasting what life has to offer. I do not think that means to eat all day on the Sabbath. It more likely means to use the Sabbath to improve our mindset, which is our real taster. I do not know about you but Sundays are the best days of the week for me to meditate and mull over spiritual truths whether or not I go to church. Part of that is because I was taken to church when I was a child and was trained into a mindset that Sundays are different. Then for two decades of my life when I decided I didn’t want to go to church, Sundays were a day of rest and freedom. So both ways, Sunday was very special to me. Whichever day of the week is most special to you due to your work schedule or any other reason will be your best Sabbath to spend part of the day working on your faith, your mindset, your “taster.” Meditation, prayer, thought and contemplation are keys to our appreciation of life.
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