Le Chocolat et La Vie

Chocolate.  I am working at The Cocoa Tree in Nashville, and life is delicious.  People love to romanticize the idea of chocolate.  When I tell friends that I am working at an artisan chocolate shop, they seem to think that it's some exquisitely enjoyable job.  I say to that, "well, yes it is."  I love to see people pick up a piece of chocolate or confection and exclaim with delight how right the flavor is.

Every day, I get to embark on a new culinary adventure, inciting my own palate to discover new tastes and engaging my creativity, which I so often neglect.  I never thought too much about how directly food affects and is affected by culture.  I have recently found myself indulging in the history, language and life of what we put in our mouths.  For me, it's not about knowledge so much as it is about the experience of food.  Food is art, it is life, it is culture.  My little job doesn't seem so small when I think of it this way.  Everyday, I get to be a part of someone's joy. 

When I lived in France, I finally understood why the French take food so seriously.  I was in Lyon, eating a traditional French meal with all of the courses and wine.  I don't know how well I can explain it, but I was so completely satisfied.  I realized that the timing, temperature, accents and mood of the entire meal were created with care and precision.  French restaurant owners care about their product and the people they are serving, never neglecting the experience as a whole.  The meal is not rushed, but drawn out.  The attention to detail produces a masterpiece, with the right wine and the right cheese, the right meat with the right vegetable. 

This satisfaction found in a five course meal or a tiny truffle, engages our senses much like the other pleasures in life.  I am drawn to the Maker when I participate in these pleasures.  If we can create goodness with our hands for others and ourselves to enjoy, maybe we can make that same goodness in our hearts.  God is near when I delight in His world as He intended.  And I am convinced that He intended us to make beauty; to make chocolate and cook filet mignon and to eat it and enjoy Him and others through it all. 

A Natural Kind of Love

"Oh there's somethin' pure and simple about those stars above
And it'll be the same for me
If I can find that natural kind of love"