Burger Kissing or Banquet Feasting?

We have hungerly kissed lovely, lifeless corpses when eating plants and animals, which daily nourish our bodies. But do we pay our proper respects to those dearly departed food sources? Are we grateful for their slaughter? Do we understand their sacrifices? Native Americans, after successful hunts, in seeking ecological peace and harmony, thanked the deceased animals for gifts of their lives so that the hunters’ families could go on living. Today, we complain about lunch breaks too short and drive-through waits that seem too long. We grumble, but we do not raise livestock, or fish, or hunt, or sow, or reap, or gather grain into barns for baking buns. Although flavor and fast delivery are desired, who yearns to kiss insipid, lukewarm burgers? Who experiences ecstasy in eating greasy, unhealthy food in a car alone? In contrast, heaven is described as a fabulous feast, that is nutritious and infinitely sustainable, a messianic banquet where prophesied “righteousness and peace will kiss each other.” All those invited who will come are seated as guests in loving, intimate community together. The everlasting supper, served by the Heavenly Host, will provide even more than divine desserts, more than bread and wine with mere remembrance, but divine presence in-the-flesh with us forever. People will be filled, not just with luscious food, but also with joy, everlasting joy. And we’ll be perpetually grateful for the loving sacrifice by the Lamb. First published in I Will Set a Place for You (Solid Food Press, 2024) 63-64.