Meat and Potatoes

Wednesday 1/20/2016 5:56 AM

Monday night Jaci made stuffed peppers for dinner. The filling was made of cooked meat, onions, garlic, and quinoa, among other things. I added extra salt, as is my habit, but overall they were good. Last night we had the Thompsons over for dinner and the topic of eating healthy food came up. Emily asked about the stuffed peppers and I made some comment about the quinoa was something I could do without. Emily reminded me how much more nutritional it is compared to rice and it has the added benefit of containing a lot of fiber. That began a long discussion about health and nutrition.

I have simple tastes when it comes to food. I have a glass of tomato juice (which I call “health going down the throat”) and a bowl of Cheerios with milk (no sugar) every morning for breakfast. I usually have a peanut butter sandwich and some potato chips for lunch. Occasionally I will have ham and cheese sandwich but I seldom put lettuce or other toppings on it. If I eat a salad with a meal I prefer iceberg lettuce with a few tomatoes with ranch or Thousand Island dressing rather than some spring mix, romaine, spinach, or kale type of salad, with balsamic or some sort of vinaigrette dressing. I am a meat and potatoes kind of guy, preferring simple mashed russet potatoes and gravy with a pot roast and corn or beans for a vegetable rather than sweet potatoes, cauliflower mash, or some other healthier option. Most of my kids and acquaintances appreciate all the other tastes and textures while I’m happy with the simple fare I had as a child. I’m perfectly happy with a bowl of bean with bacon soup with crackers smashed in it accompanied by a couple of slices of buttered bread for my dinner.

I receive a lot of advice from those who love me, suggesting I try to eat more healthily. I usually argue that I have low blood pressure, low cholesterol, I am not seriously overweight, and I take no medications or vitamin supplements so my diet seems to be working fine. In my opinion, if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.

My relationship with God is also pretty simple. I make a habit of sitting down to read my Bible, using a devotional book to guide my reading. This is followed by a time of contemplating what God is saying to me in my reading and through the circumstances of my life and then a time of prayer and journaling my thoughts. There are usually no extravagant revelations on any given morning but, over time, I sense some movement in a certain direction and try to follow where I believe God is leading me. Occasionally I will attend a motivational rally or a retreat and receive an insight that changes the direction of my life but the meat and potatoes of my walk with God are my regular daily routine.

Today I read an excerpt from Henri Nouwen’s book Making All Things New that reinforces my experience in this regard. “Simplicity and regularity are the best guides in finding our way. They allow us to make the discipline of solitude as much a part of our daily lives as eating and sleeping. When that happens, our noisy worries will slowly lose their power over us and the renewing activity of God’s Spirit will slowly make its presence known. Although the discipline of solitude asks us to set aside time and space, what finally matters is that our hearts become like quiet cells where God can dwell, wherever we go and whatever we do.” I have a quiet cell within where God dwells. It has formed over a long period of time through a regular and simple daily routine.