One tradition many families have is to go around the table before eating their Thanksgiving dinner and share what they are thankful for. I think that is a great tradition. But as a boy, I remember thinking, “There are a lot of people at this table, and I can’t wait to dig into the best dinner of the year!” Maybe it isn’t just the kids who have those thoughts.
Last Sunday afternoon, my wife and I were leading a hands-on plant-based cooking class. We had chosen recipes that would fit into a Thanksgiving dinner: mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy, cranberry fruit salad, broccoli and cauliflower, and a special-K loaf. The rest of the Thanksgiving recipes will be taught on November 22 in the RMC Eat Your Way to Awesome cooking class.
As we gathered around our creations—getting ready to enjoy the fruits of our labor—I began thinking about how different this meal might be from what many people would be enjoying in just a few weeks. Why go to the trouble of substituting plant-based options, using no-oil, low-fat, and no-sugar recipes?
My thoughts took me back to what may have been the first Thanksgiving meal with Adam and Eve—with their Creator and just after their creation—being introduced to all the delicious fruits from the trees in their new Eden home.
It was plant-based, no oil, low fat, and no sugar. Were they disappointed? Did God apologize for the simple options He had given them?
I can imagine Him waiting in anticipation to see how they would respond when their taste buds and the pleasure centers in their brains, which He had created for their enjoyment, experienced the amazing flavors He had placed in the fruit they were about to eat.
And I bet He was not disappointed! I bet the smiles and expressions of pleasure on their faces told it all. He might even have said, “It is good, very good!” God never intended healthy eating to be something we endure for the sake of health, but something we enjoy as we rediscover His goodness.
So, there I was, standing in our Wellness Center kitchen at the Rocky Mountain Conference office waiting for the response of these cooks as they looked at their creations with pleasure. But what I really wanted to see was their response when they tasted the food.
Before we had the blessing, I shared with them that the flavors and textures of the foods we were about to enjoy where gifts God had placed there for our pleasure. He could have given us little pellets containing all the nutrients we needed. He didn’t have to design our food, or our bodies, to enjoy what we eat.
The reason we try to prepare food as close as possible to the way He designed it is that, in His wisdom, He created what is best. Any departure from His original plan is, at best, a compromise, and we cannot improve on His plan. Perhaps He is inviting us to rediscover what He originally intended: food that brings us pleasure while supporting a clear mind and a strong body.
When we finally loaded up our plates, I could see from their faces and hear from their comments that they were not disappointed!
We enjoyed more than just good food. We also enjoyed the joy of fellowship and the spirit of true thanksgiving to a loving God who created food for our pleasure in a way that cannot be improved upon.
Thanksgiving is a good time to rediscover that God’s original plan was not about giving up pleasure but experiencing it as He intended.
—Rick Mautz is the Rocky Mountain Conference Wellness Support director. Photos supplied.
