Monday, April 02, 2007

A Different Sort of Luncheon-Basket


A few days ago I was musing over the delectable luncheon basket that the River Rat packed for his friend in Kenneth Grahame's beloved story, Wind in the Willows. Today that memorable description returned to me as I was in the process of packing a different sort of luncheon-basket. I have been asked to speak at a Mother's Day brunch in a neighboring state and am in the midst of making heart preparations so that I may provide my friends with a yard of French bread, sausage out of which the garlic sings, cheese that lays down and cries, and red wine that recalls the ripeness of summer fruit.

The bread (God's Word) is the staff of life, the daily essential-but-never-mundane element of our diet. Sausage with a tang of garlic makes for strength and robustness. The sharp cheese adds pungency (perhaps a little prick of conviction?), and the wine joy.

Oh, may that be the kind of luncheon basket I carry with me to share with my friends.

"What man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?

Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him?"
Matthew 7:9-11

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