A Beautiful Bowl of Soup

As I write this my stomach is full, I’ve just returned from eating lunch with a friend from church that included good conversation and great Thai food; including a sweet and sour soup. 

I love to cook and I love to eat, to taste, to linger and savor and eat each and every morsel of food that my eyes see. So this season that we are entering into of holidays that include much feasting suits me just fine. Somehow all of the extra exercise that will be required to keep my youthful appearance is worth it to eat extra food.

One of the cookbooks that sits on a shelf in our kitchen is called; “A Beautiful Bowl of Soup”. It is filled with hundreds of recipes of some of the most delicious soups and stews; each and every one brimming with international flavors and unique accompaniments, garnishes, and toppings that add tremendous visual appeal and lead to a beautiful bowl of soup.

This is also the time of year when volunteers come out to serve the less fortunate. Each Thanksgiving Day, local food shelves and some restaurants serve a meal to those less fortunate that meets their need for one day; a single day.

And yet, in Minnesota thousands of people go hungry on daily basis, not just at Thanksgiving. Each and EVERY day they wander as they wonder where their next meal will come from.

EACH and EVERY day they seek out somewhere or someone who will give them a simple bowl of soup to warm their stomachs as well as their soul.

EACH and EVERY day they seek out somewhere or someone who will love them and let them know that they have worth; that their situation need not define who they are and can be.

So today, with my belly full and filled, I am filled with gratefulness that I (for some reason) have not had to search for food today. I am grateful that I (for some reason) was fortunate enough to have a friend who would sit with me and eat and laugh and talk and enjoy a beautiful bowl of soup. And so I offer up thanksgiving to God for His goodness to me.

Psalm 150

¹ Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty firmament!
² Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!
³ Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; Praise Him with the lute and harp!
⁴ Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!
⁵ Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with clashing cymbals!
⁶ Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!

"Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."