30 Days of Tasting

Day 10

This morning, David and I sat down to a breakfast of poached eggs and melon. Our minds were occupied with thoughts of the day, our conversation light. Then all of sudden, David said, “Are you tasting this?” His instantaneous prompt made me realize that I wasn’t. Not really. I was eating my breakfast without any sense that I was eating my breakfast.

We both slowed down, paid attention to what we were tasting, especially the melon. (Do you call it cantaloupe? Or musk melon?) In my area, we have these amazing melons called Vincennes melons. They come from the Southern part of the state, are enormous, and have a ridiculously sweet, delicious flavor. (If you like melon!)

So, I slowed down and really tasted the melon. It’s a bit of an unusual flavor, really. Very sweet, yet earthy, musky. It’s almost as thought you can taste the moist soil from which it grew. The texture is unique, too. Kind of fibrous and stringy, but full of mouth watering zest.

Once again, I saw how slowing down and paying attention to my senses helps me enter the present moment, the only place where I can experience God. The only moment that really exists. The past is past. The future is yet to be. I have this moment of time, this breath of life, to live and be and abide in Christ.

Tasting breakfast helped me do that. It became a spiritual experience because it led me into a fuller awareness of God, the One from whom every good and perfect gift—including Vincennes melons—comes.

Are you tasting your breakfast? Why not slow down, take a bite, truly taste it and live fully attentive to that experience. See what happens when you do. Bon appetite!

P.S. Don't forget to register for The Art of Faith: Awakening Your Senses to the Wonder of God on October 3 in Indianapolis. After Saturday, the 26th, the cost increases. Space is limited. We have folks coming from Iowa, Tennessee, Illinois and Kentucky!