My friend Justin texted me with some welcomed and appreciated words this morning ……”Wanna get sushi today?” My first response was, “No Justin, it’s Monday and I have too much to do.” It was then that I experienced the conviction of turning down a young man who probably needed to talk to a wise and seasoned clergy figure. God was calling me to eat sushi and help Justin find one of those figures. Not wanting to disappoint God or miss the opportunity to assist a young man who, by the way, is also a young father, I consented to meet my friend for some therapeutic sushi consumption. Turns out we did have a couple of crises that needed to be dealt with and they were quickly dispensed with as we moved to the meat of our agenda…. dining.
Last week I talked about the goodness of fresh bagels. I am a Baptist Christian. This accounts for my preoccupation with making parables out of food items … in this case …sushi. The secret to partaking in this pleasurable consumable is that you place the entire segment of this Asian rice loaf in your mouth after dipping it in or spreading on the appropriate sauce/condiment. You do not cut the sushi piece in half. Don’t hold me to it, but this rule could possibly be contained in the dietary laws of Leviticus. Perhaps the most important variable, which cannot be emphasized enough is….”do not ask what you just ate!” Some things are simply best left unsaid and some questions need to be unanswered.
Forrest Gump’s momma told him that life was like a box of chocolates because you never know what you are going to get. Using Momma Gump’s statement as my pattern, I am prepared to make a similar claim. “Life is like sushi. You take a big bite and it’s good. But there are some questions that may never be answered”. Perhaps you don’t eat this questionable food item. If that is the case, then let me share a more relatable slogan. “Life is like a hot dawg. You most certainly don’t want to know what’s in one of those!”
Enough of the food analogies! I’m getting hungry. So, here is my point. Life has more than its share of questions. A person never knows what it will contain. There will be joy and happiness. There will be disappointment and defeat. We will enjoy successes and we will endure our share of failures. Those who subscribe to that which could be described as The Prosperity Gospel will say there are no questions it’s all going to be smooth sailing for the Christian and if you find yourself in a bad place in life you have somehow irritated almighty God. My personal belief is that life has it’s peaks, valleys and many questions that will be answered when I arrive at my eternal address. For now I am just trying to take big bites out of my earthly existence and savor the flavor (rhyme intended). I can live with the questions because like the sushi chef who knows what he’s serving up to customers; God knows what he’s presenting to us as well. Life is good. Feel free to take a big bite!
“And we know that all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28, NIV)
Andy O.