Tag: snack

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

More than a snack

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Gaining Visuals on Unsplash

Some “through the bible” thoughts from John 6.

Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35).

Jesus goes on to explain, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” (6:51)

Of course, “The Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” (6:52)

The sixth chapter of John isn’t the easiest to figure out. Volumes have been written about interpreting and applying Jesus’s words. I’m still working it out in my own mind.

The image of eating and drinking is a metaphor for taking something into your innermost being. Other forms of this metaphor sound like

  • Drink the Kool-aid
  • Hook, line, and sinker
  • All in
  • Swept up
  • Buy-in
  • On board
  • Jump on the bandwagon

In other words, fully absorbing everything Christ is and does. Manna in the desert? That was about Jesus. Psalm 23’s “A table in the presence of my enemies?” Yep, about Jesus. A land flowing with milk and honey? Ultimately it’s Jesus. Elisha’s abundance of bread for a hundred people (2 Kings 4:42-44). Another image of Jesus.

Food sustains physical life. Jesus nourishes our spiritual lives. Without him you’ll starve. We’re dead in our sins (Eph. 2:1). With him, we have eternal life (John 6:51). With him we’re full – of life.

Jesus spoke of this before he instituted the Lord’s Supper. John wrote about it much later. Is that what Jesus was talking about? Plenty of theologians have written about this, and they don’t all agree.

Having said that, I certainly think Jesus should be more than a snack you read for when you’re worried, sad, or struggling. He ought to be at the bottom of your food pyramid. His word ought to be a the most substantial part of your daily consumption of news and entertainment

Posted in Food

In search of a snack

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Daily writing prompt
What snack would you eat right now?
View all responses
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

I believe my grandchildren ask themselves this question every time they come to our house. From the minute they walk in the door they are foraging for snacks. Immediately before and after supper, they stand and look in the pantry or refrigerator in search of a snack.

“Can I have a cheese stick?” Cheese sticks have always been a popular snack at our house. But you better have the right ones. If I offer them cheddar, they will want mozzarella. And vice-versa. The swirly combination cheese sticks are usually a safe bet.

In different seasons of life they have preferred different snacks. Mini Oreo cookies were popular for a while. Sometimes they wanted chocolate, other times vanilla. One granddaughter would eat the cream centers and leave the cookie shells behind.

Trail mix is another popular snack. It’s not as healthy as it sounds, since their version of trail mix was mini marshmallows, chocolate chips, and Craisins. Of course, they would eat the marshmallows and chocolate, and leave the dried fruit behind.

Fortunately, the grandchildren all liked fruit. They often choose an orange, apple, or banana. Apples used to be a good grab and go, but now it has to be peeled and sliced up for them. If the kids find out we have strawberries, they will consume them in a sitting.

Chewy fruit snacks have always been popular, too. The word fruit justifies eating a little bag full of sugar.

Me? More than anything else, I reach for nuts. Cashews, peanuts, or mixed nuts are often my snack of choice, especially in the evening watching television. During the day, apples and oranges are the first thing I see when I open the refrigerator, and I might reach for one of them. A few Christmas cookies are still calling my name from the garage freezer, and it’s only fair that I indulge them as well, right?

Posted in Confirmation Class

Bananas and sauce

Posted on by William Douthwaite

From time to time, I will bring in a snack for the Monday night confirmation class. The usual fare will include cookies, chips and salsa or queso, perhaps a bag of pretzels. Or, I’ll let them request a snack. When they’ve provided input, we’ve had waffles, funnel cakes (yep, I made ’em), ice cream sundaes, and pizza.

This year’s class is different in many ways. Creative, inquisitive, intelligent and eccentric. When I asked, “What do you want for snack next week” they answered, “Bananas and sauce.” Not a difficult request, but certainly not typical. No pizza? No candy? Nope, bananas and sauce.

At first, I didn’t take them seriously. I brought in some left over chocolate cookies from a previous week. Immediately, they challenged, “What about the bananas and sauce?”

The next week, I complied. I bought a bunch of bananas along with some chocolate fudge sauce and butterscotch sauce. You should have seen the look on their faces. From disbelief to delight, they enjoyed every bite. They loaded their plates with both sauces, peeled their bananas and dipped them in, savoring that sweet moment of bananas and sauce.

Chocolate fudge was the favorite by far. But I had little of either sauce leftover. And there were no leftover bananas. While some abstained, others ate two or three.

This also led to the discussion of how you should eat your banana. Shell on or off. I have always completely peeled my banana before eating. But as it turns out, I’m in the minority. Most peel just enough to take a few bites, and them peel some more. Interesting. I’ve always completely unwrapped a candy bar before eating it, too. But that’s just me.

I digress. I never even thought of eating bananas with sauce. It certainly was a hit for this class as we worked hard on the second commandment. Our snacks will never be the same. I have a feeling we will soon return to this moment and revisit bananas and sauce!