Palate Cleansing

This morning I am thinking about the great meal I enjoyed while out with a friend.  Before bringing out the main course, our server offered each of us a little cup of sorbet.  He said it was to cleanse our palates.  My friend said, “Sure!”  But I declined.  I cynically suspected it was just the server’s way of buying time.  I figured if I said “No thanks,” it would make him bring our meals more quickly.  It didn’t.  So, while my friend consumed the palate cleanser, I had to sit and watch…and wait.  I should have just agreed to partake, too.  When the server finally presented us with the main course, I said, “So, tell me about that palate cleanser.”  He explained that it was intended to clear our taste buds of the flavors from our appetizers to prepare them for the flavors of the main course.  Although my meal was absolutely delicious, I couldn’t help but wonder if it might have been even better had I cleansed my palate first.  Being completely intrigued, I Googled “palate cleansers” as soon as I got home.  I learned that some palate cleansers are bland—like milk, bread, or just plain water.  Other palate cleansers are tart—like the sorbet I had been offered earlier that evening.   In either case, their purpose is to neutralize the taste buds and remove competing flavors.  As I reflect on this today, it is helping me make sense of some of the seasons of my life that seem a bit bland or maybe even kind of tart.  Perhaps these seasons are intentionally ordained to cleanse my heart, mind, and spirit of things past…of courses that may have been quite enjoyable, but they were only appetizers for something else, something greater.  I recall that my rejection of the palate cleanser in the restaurant didn’t hasten the appearance of my main course at all.  Likewise, my resisting the seasons of waiting, of silence, and of stillness won’t usher God’s perfectly prepared courses into my life any faster.  In these seasons of preparation, I would be wise to yield myself to a thorough cleansing from the taste of what was, so that experiences from my past will not overpower or taint the taste of my tomorrows.  Now that I understand it a little better, I will gladly partake of that which prepares me to fully enjoy and appreciate what is to come.  

Why Me?

This morning I am thinking about the question that was posed to me by a fourth grade girl.  She is one of six students with whom I am currently engaging in a book study at her school.  To give a bit of background, I asked the principal to intentionally select students for the book study who were not at the top of their class.  I wanted those were not strong readers and whose classroom conduct was not necessarily exemplary.  What I really hope to do is to provide something for these students they may not have previously experienced…something I feared they may never get to experience if I didn’t take action.  I want to expose them to interesting literature and support them as they interact with it in meaningful ways.  I want to help them make connections between the literature and their daily, lived reality.  I want to guide them to reflect, speak, and write in response to literature.  I want them to be part of a group in which all are accountable and all are successful.  So, the first day I met the students I shared how we will learn together through our book study, and I invited them to ask me questions.  That’s when one girl, who had been relatively quiet, asked “Why did you choose us?”  The look on her face was one of puzzlement.  It was not so much that she didn’t understand what I had said.  The truth is that she was incredulous.  Looking in her eyes, I discerned that there were other questions, unspoken.  “Don’t you know we can’t read?  Don’t you know we failed the big reading test?  Don’t you know we get in trouble a lot?”  I was pierced by the bare honesty of the moment, and I answered the one question she had dared to ask out loud.  My answer was simple: “I chose you because I wanted to.”  After I had dismissed my little group to rejoin the rest of their class, I was quickly writing some notes to leave for the teacher.  I was startled when I felt arms wrapping around me from behind.  I turned to look into the face of the girl who had earlier asked me such a poignant question.  She didn’t say a word…just smiled.  But, once again, I could see in her eyes something unspoken.  It was “Thank you.” 

Well, I can surely relate.  Sometimes when I think about God’s goodness, mercy, and favor toward me, I find myself incredulously asking, “Why did you choose me?  Don’t you know my brokenness and pain?  Don’t you know the terrible choices I have made?  Don’t you know all the times I have tried and failed?”  It makes me smile to realize that, in spite of myself, I was purposely chosen.  It was not because I was good at anything.  It was because He wanted bless my life with things I had never experienced before…things I would never have experienced if He had not intervened.  He continually showers his love and grace upon me so that I can have the privilege of knowing joy in my moments of deepest sorrow, strength in my weakness, peace in the midst of life’s storms, and love without fear.  When my heart asks, “Why me?” the answer is simple. It’s because He wants to.  This means the world to me.  And this is why I embrace Him with my worship.  Though I don’t always have the words to express my gratitude, He hears what resonates in the depths of my soul:  It is “Thank You.  Thank You.”