The Spirit of Communion
Posted on the original god.food.wine. blog July 10, 2010
Spirit Of Communion
A few weeks ago, in the spirit of communion, my dear friend Krista came over to vacuum my house. I reluctantly resumed my position as the receiver on the sofa. To aid in thoughts of acceptance, I distracted myself by checking out the World Cup statistics on television (Go USA, Vai Brasil!)
After the floors were immaculately cleaned by Krista, we proceeded to enjoy a lingering lunch. Our plates held up cornmeal crusted pizza adorned with goat cheese, tomatoes, and fresh herbs. A salad of mixed greens met up with the pizza that included my favorite Bruno Rosso tomatoes kissed with champagne wine & balsamic vinegars, olive oil, and a little bit of salt & pepper – a simple meal that is easy to prepare and makes me feel lavished at the same time.
It is rare to never that I am home during the middle of the day to enjoy a friend’s company over lunch. Krista and I sat and talked, laughed, caught up on each other’s lives. As we were talking I thought, “Thank you God for a wonderful friend in Krista and for allowing us this time to sustain ourselves both in flesh and spirit.” I realized then that I wanted to include more “spirit of communion” moments in my life like these.
Silly and Satiated
The day before Krista came over to my house I had experienced a “dreamy” picnic that happened by circumstance with no planning on the part of myself and my boyfriend Matt. He had driven in from Chico, CA for a few days to visit me in Santa Rosa. We decided a day at the beach would be good for us and ease my wild soul. In sweet boyfriend fashion, Matt took care of every little detail, from helping me in the car to taking care of every moment we spent together that day, until we arrived home with silly, satiated looks on our faces. We had driven to Point Reyes. Along the way we stumbled upon fresh strawberries, salami, pastrami, fresh triple cream brie & chevre, and as the headliner – a dozen and a half oysters from Drakes Bay Oyster Company.
Unity of Pleasure
These delectables were accompanied by Kombucha tea adding effervescent energy and stimulation to the soul. We discovered our sweet spot at South Beach in Point Reyes and laid out our angelically guided picnic. Creation had drawn us a backdrop of blue sky dolloped with white, the sun’s rays massaged the blue Pacific ocean, sound effects of swells were in the background which looked like frosting as they folded. I delighted in tasting the sea spray on my lips.
Matt got out the kite and we anchored that down as “our flag” for the day. As we shucked oysters (OK, Matt did) and I laced them with lemon, we took in all our surroundings. Suddenly, I felt a unity of pleasure in my body, soul, and mind as I thought to myself, “this is how it should be all the time” – a heavenly experience that is perfectly capable of being experienced on earth with the ones we love and the ones we are constantly connected to in our life journey.
Giving Back
Let me take you back now to my time with Krista. As she was leaving, I felt a sudden joy to send her off with her own picnic, sensing that the spirit of giving back to her would manifest an experience that would be her very own- unity of pleasure in food, wine, and spirit. So, I packed a bag filled with cheeses, meats, chocolates, wines, and strawberries. As I handed Krista her bag of delectables, we prayed and talked to God. Then, we remained quiet for a minute, taking in the “spirit of communion” that we had just shared. This was followed by an outburst of joy – laughing out loud together!
Let it Flow
The sudden ebb and flow of giving and receiving – I am learning the valuable lesson that to block one just to have the other falls short. It is a flow of you to me, me to you, sustainable kindness. This flow ultimately spreads beyond the unseen to which I raise a glass to you and say “Let it FLOW!”
