"One Grain More" (aka Gluten Free Should Not Be Trendy)

Eating gluten free is getting a bad rap these days, in my opinion. Earlier this month a story came out in the media that 30% of adults are trying to eat gluten free. I mean, really? The articles quote some "expert" who says that "This is the health issue of the day." Ah, only in America, folks, with our first-world problems.

Now, when someone invites me over for dinner and asks if I have any "issues," or I'm on a consulting project and am asked what we should order in, it's hard not to feel ridiculous when I say I'm gluten-free. I secretly wish I could wear some little badge that makes the disclaimer that I'm not trying to be paleo or Atkins or whatever... (For a post from 2009 giving some of my reasons for eating gluten free, go here.)

But I will not play the martyr. I need to laugh at it along with everyone else. Enjoy this very funny video mocking the gluten free trend, titled "One Grain More."

I would not be gluten free if it did not make me feel a lot better, because it's not convenient or fun, especially when I travel. However, I have learned to work with it, and am now sort of enjoying the adventure of it. Now, when I'm heading out of town I google to find out where I can eat gluten free. Here are my top four so far:

Veggie Grill, which has several locations in the west (of course), serves some really good vegetarian and GF options. I went to one in Seattle during a recent work project, had some mac and cheese made with quinoa pasta that was terrific.

Risotteria in NYC. Probably my favorite so far. They serve you GF breadsticks when you sit down, and those are things you realize how much you miss when you finally get to have them! I let myself eat whatever sounded good: beer, sandwich, salad, dessert... because all of it was gluten free. It's my happy place these days when I am daydreaming...

Flappy Jacks in Glendora, CA. I am down in Azusa at least twice a month, and whenever I have to spend the night, I brave the crowds and go here. They have a huge gluten free menu filled with all the things you have hung your head over as a gluten free eater and just accepted you cannot have: waffles, french toast, pancakes that actually taste like pancakes...

Sensitive Sweets, Fountain Valley, CA. I just stumbled onto this place during a vacation in Laguna Beach. I had a chocolate fudge cupcake that was practically a religious experience (yes, go ahead and picture me with fudge frosting circling my mouth...). I bought a GF cake mix that was used for my birthday a few months later and it was perfection.

Those are just a few of the highlights. While I'm at it, I have to vent about my #1 pet peeve as one who has to eat gluten free: nearly every church I visit for training, speaking, consulting, etc., build their community meals around what I call the Big Three: pasta, pizza or sandwiches! I know, I know, it's because these items tend to be cheaper. But I end up scrounging around for iceberg lettuce and gloppy Italian dressing in the church kitchen refrigerator, and try to smile... Fortunately, whenever I visit Latino churches, I do just fine as I stuff my face with chicken, beans, salsa, corn tortillas...

Parting advice you didn't ask for: If you are considering going gluten free, I strongly suggest you do so only if you are having genuine medical issues, as I did. My acid reflux went away and the rumbling down below has abated, thankfully. Despite all the press about it as "the health issue of the day," I actually gained weight during the first two years I followed a GF diet, and finally got it all under control this year, losing twenty pounds as I understood more about metabolism, whole grains, etc.

Furthermore, it's not something you sort of do, like "I try to avoid it when I can..." because once I gave it up, I found that I actually became more sensitized to gluten if I fudged or accidentally ate it. (Other GF'ers have confirmed this too). You're either all in or all out. Otherwise, you do not gain the benefits that you think might be there.

There are a lot of GF products out there now, but be wise... I learned the hard way that you only want to eat whole grain. A lot of GF products use white rice flour, tapioca flour, etc, and that is high on the glycemic index (which sounds like I know what I'm talking about, but I don't... do your homework.)

All for now... go ahead and make fun of gluten free trendiness. I'm right with you.

Impossible

I find myself noticing that truth comes to me in bits and pieces. It usually starts with a tantalizing thought that leads unexpectedly to another, then another. If I'm attentive, I can follow these thoughts, one to another, until I'm on a trail to something.

I don't think I've arrived at the destination that these various things point to, but I am intrigued.

It started with some reading earlier in the week, when I came to Luke 1 in my One-Year Bible. Admittedly, I had that brief surge of "been there, done that" wash over me as I started a gospel I have read and taught out of many times before. I fought the temptation to skip over it, pretty confident that something would speak out.

I did not have to wait long:

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 

But she was much perplexed (um, YEAH) by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 

Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”  The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her. (verses 26-380

I prayed for open eyes and ears as I read. And soon that statement, "For nothing will be impossible with God," stirred in me.

I thought to myself, "Do I believe that? I mean, really believe that?" Because if I did, I would pray bolder prayers. And I would never give up. That's what faith is. It means that I believe, and I am confident that God is who He says he is.

No, it doesn't mean I have to scrunch up my face and somehow prayer harder. But it does mean, like the persistent widow in Luke 18, that I keep showing up, and keep asking.

So I assembled a list of "impossibles." I don't feel the need to share most of them. But suffice it to say they point to the future, to forgiveness, to revolution big and small. And I have committed to praying about them every day. For healing in a friend's life, who just received a devastating diagnosis. For housing for two friends I have met in the last year who live on the street. For love to break through in some hearts....

As I said at the start, these truths come in bits and pieces. I pray for one, then two, then three days about the Impossibles. Then I heard last night as I studied for my class, a stunning reminder. We are working through the Torah, and are currently in the Book of Exodus. In chapter 32, there is a fascinating section, after God hears of the insane decision of Aaron and the Israelites to fashion an idol in the shape of a golden calf for worship right at the time when Moses is received the Ten Commandments. God is furious at their utter foolishness in praying to other gods. Moses speaks up on their behalf:

Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’”  And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people. (verses 12-14)

There is not room here to go into the Hebrew and explain what this passage means. But certainly, we have imposed the English meaning of "change your mind" and tried to make it to fit into our little theological boxes, thinking we can constrain and quantify God to fit our favorite posture. But God will not be boxed!

I have enjoyed this round of reading Exodus, seeing an intimacy between Moses and God that is beautiful, and in many ways (I believe) archetypal of what we can have with God as we now have His Spirit in us. What I take from this is that if you find yourself in disaster, you can pray to God and ask him to have mercy or even remind him of his promises.  Some want to say that prayer is only for our benefit, to help shape us to conform more to God's unbending plans. Sure, that is part of the process. But I also know God to be a God of relationship and dialogue and mercy and love. The Bible is one unending story of God's pursuit of his people, repeatedly chasing us down and calling us to Himself, the Author and Sustainer of life.

Does that mean that I think God is my personal cosmic vending machine? Absolutely not. But do I know him to be one who wants to hear from me, placing every one of my hopes and fears and prayers into his hands, every moment and every day? Absolutely.


Today I came across a question that carried me further into these truths that have been eeking themselves out in front of me. I receive a daily reading from the Christian Quotation of the Day. (Have no fear, these are definitely worth subscribing to. They are not corny, Precious Moments, power-of-positive-thinking crap... they are historic, profound words from all sorts of writers, leaders, and saints.) 

Today contained this question. Let it bother you.

Do I exhibit the unexplainable in my life?

Like Mary, I am trying to have my reply be, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” May we live lives of faith in the impossible.

Galatians 3:28

I am in a good mood after enjoying a fantastic evening... I drove down today to Azusa because I happened upon the good news in my Twitter feed last night that Rachel Held Evans was speaking here at Foothill Community Church on behalf of Azusa Pacific University. Not only am I a fan of Foothill Church (a faithful Free Methodist congregation), but I am a HUGE fan of Rachel Held Evans!! (I also have to be in Pasadena all day tomorrow, so I decided to break up the drive. Nice.)

My groupie-status began while reading her latest book, A Year of Biblical Womanhood. It accomplishes what I could only hope to accomplish if I ever write a book: it is equal parts hilarious, engaging, authentic and spiritually moving. You know a book is good when it makes you laugh out loud while you're reading it! It also made me cry a time or two, but not because it was cheesy or manipulative. In fact, I just downloaded the first chapter for free... either go to her blog and download your own, or take it off of my public dropbox folder. Yes, I'm a fan.

There were so many highlights to her message, and when it goes online I'll try to remember to post a link and reminder here. But perhaps one of my favorite parts of the evening was that I brought a former youth group student with me who is male (and yes, the majority of the room was female), who really enjoyed the evening. And we both agreed afterward that what is so nice about our history is that it never came up once in all the years of jr high and high school youth group that I was female. I just was. (And still am, let's be honest! I'm just not serving at that particular church any longer.)

I praise God that some thirty years later I am still at this ministry thing. I will not deny that there have been many bumps along the way, and I still encounter some now and again. But glory hallelujah, I have had some great opportunities to serve and lead in ministry, as a woman.

The first verse that made me know this was possible was the one I noted in this post's title:

There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

I thank God for Rachel's message that is going out all over the country and online. I pray for her to persevere, and I pray for the many men and women who hear from her. May we be a hospitable place to gifted people. May the church not be a place of judgment and discouragement. Lord, may we all be FREE in you, to serve the way you created us to.

Tagine (Huh??)

I started this blog about four years ago, and had all the great aspirations one has (if they are willing to admit it) about doing so: writing insightful posts that generate loads of comments, building readership, creating buzz. I really can't believe I thought any of that could happen.

However, I am really grateful for those who check in now and then and read my meanderings, but it certainly hasn't generated anything other than an occasional comment... and here's the funny part: I write about youth ministry, theology, social commentary, spiritual disciplines, and once in awhile an update on what I'm doing professionally. Yet hands down, I get the most comments (and traffic) by far about my recipes!

In fact, lately my "readership" has really jumped, but only because a few months ago someone "pinned" one of my recipes on her Pinterest page, and that has gone viral (at least by my limited standards). Hilarious.

That being said, here is my latest recipe. I made it last night and practically ate the bowl, it was so good. I got it from a fantastic cookbook called Simply in Season. I have mentioned here before that I try to eat seasonally, but even though this recipe is titled "Autumn Tagine," I had all the components sitting in my crisper from local produce. One caveat however: I opted to use butternut squash instead of sweet potato, because that's what I had. Perfecto.

AUTUMN TAGINE
Tagine (tah-ZHEEN) is a Moroccan stew named after the traditional heavy clay pot in which it is cooked. This colorful vegetarian version made one tester’s 11-year-old exclaim, "We should have this every night!" Adjust the amount of crushed hot chilies to suit your family’s tastes. Serves 6-8.

2 cups / 500 ml onion (diced) - OK, another substitution = I used leeks

In large soup pot sauté in 1-2 tablespoons oil until soft, 4-5 minutes.

6 cloves garlic (minced)
1 teaspoon ginger root (peeled and minced)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2-1 teaspoon pepper
1/4-1 teaspoon crushed hot chilies (optional)

Add and stir for 1 minute.

3 cups / 750 ml sweet potatoes (peeled and cut into 1-inch / 2.5-cm cubes) - like I said, I substituted with butternut squash
2 cups / 500 ml cooked chickpeas
11/2 cups / 350 ml vegetable broth
Add and bring to a boil. Cover; reduce heat. Simmer 5 minutes.
1/2 medium head cauliflower (cut into 1-inch / 2.5-cm florets)
2 cups / 500 ml peas

Stir in cauliflower, cover, and simmer until vegetables are nearly tender, about 12 minutes. Add peas, cover, and simmer until hot, 2 minutes. Serve over steamed couscous or rice, garnished with chopped fresh cilantro (optional). I also find that Tagine is Tasty when Topped with some Toasted nuts. I should make a T-shirt that says that!  :)

Thread

It feels so good to sit still and breathe deep after a week packed-full. Due to scheduling, these past few days (since the evening of January 25) have been non-stop with a mission conference, interviews for Summer 2013 intern candidates, and continued work on the Wesleyan Theology training course for leaders. And wherever I could I would squeeze in time for studying my class on the Torah.

Throughout these events I detected a thread that wove through them all. Throughout the Santa Barbara Mission Conference we were blessed by multiple speakers, and the one who rocked my world the most was Brenda Salter-McNeil. I had heard her speak before at Urbana 06 and Urbana 09, but getting to know her a bit and hear from her up close and personal at this conference was incredible.

I cannot begin to encapsulate all that she said, but she spoke prophetically from Isaiah 6 and 11 about "stump ministry." After all these years, I think I have tasted of what it means to get whittled down to a measly stump. I was reminded in new ways that God sides with the broken-hearted. We must cling to Him as we wait for a future we cannot see.

That would have been enough to feast on, but slowly I saw the thread emerge. I went to hear Brenda speak at Westmont Chapel on Monday, January 28, and she taught powerfully on the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10. She called us out as we heard the oft-told story in new ways. She helped me to see how I have been the priest and the Levite, who crossed to the other side of the road to avoid the mess of the man beaten by bandits, more than the Samaritan. In the same way that we walk past trash on the ground, we walk past the "mess" around us, thinking someone else will deal with it. As God has sided with me in my broken-heartedness, I am called to sit with others in theirs. Ouch.

In my reading for the Torah class, we have actually spent these first four weeks on Genesis 1-11. Given that we need to study the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures, you would think we would get going! But this has been time well spent. This week I read through the tragedy of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4, and saw things I had never seen before. Naturally I have been troubled by the strangeness of this story -- why does God prefer Abel's offering to Cain's? In the past I have thought about it, then shrugged my shoulders and given up. But as one of our texts tells us, God has a "penchant for what is not highly regarded." She goes on to break down the Hebrew meaning of the name Abel and Cain. "Abel" apparently points to "what is lacking in worth" and "Cain" is "connected with productivity, with creation and acquisition." In other words, Abel denotes "worthless," but then we are told "the entire Bible shows a God who is on the side of the 'Abels'." Later she says that God has a "preference for what is weak and not able to protect itself." 

WOW. In the past, when students and I have discussed scripture and the repeated instances of God working through the unlikely (David, Samuel, Mary, Paul, to name a few) I have always repeated what I have been taught: that God prefers to use the unlikely because then the evidence is clear that he is at work, and the results are not due to the natural abilities of the person in the story.

I won't say that I have been wrong, but this really is only half the tale. God is powerful and sovereign, but I know that he is not an egotistical tyrant who wants to make sure we know who is in charge. He is a God of mercy, grace and unending love. And as we receive such gifts, we are transformed by such tender and amazing love.

Then, we are called. As the textbook continues, "God's penchant for what is weak and 'worthless' must be imitated by the ones who walk in God's ways." Will I walk past the suffering around me, or will I allow it to make my own life messy?

I can't say that I reached the end of the thread this morning, but in my reading I came upon Psalm 27, and things felt clear:


1 The Lord is my light and my salvation—
    so why should I be afraid?
The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger,
    so why should I tremble? 

2 When evil people come to devour me,    
when my enemies and foes attack me,    
they will stumble and fall.

3 Though a mighty army surrounds me,    
my heart will not be afraid.
Even if I am attacked,
    I will remain confident.

4 The one thing I ask of the Lord—    
the thing I seek most—
is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,    
delighting in the Lord’s perfections
and meditating in his Temple.

May we all live much more by faith than by fear. May we take risks and love others in the same ways we have been loved by the insanely foolish and persistent love of God.

Deep

As I was reading my friend's excellent blog, all of a sudden I had a "I should've had a V8!" moment and realized, wait, ohmygosh, I HAVE A BLOG TOO!

After ten days away during the Christmas holidays, I just put my head down and got to work when I got home. I plowed through hundreds of emails, and dove into several projects on the docket for this semester:

• preparing to interview candidates for the third year of our Free Methodist Summer Interns Project;
• facilitating our Wesleyan Theology course for lay leaders and new pastors;
• serving on the steering committee for the Santa Barbara Mission Conference;
• taking another class at Azusa Pacific seminary in preparation to start a doctorate in ministry.

Suffice it to say, I got in the zone. Before I start down the road to burnout, I let myself sleep in this morning in order to catch up, breathe, rest and reflect.

The first song that came to mind as I rested was one that we sang last week in church: How Deep the Father's Love for Us. Being steeped again in theology through the Wesleyan theology course and the seminary course (which is on the Pentateuch -- one can never tire of studying that!) made me pay closer attention to the lyrics, the great gift being that the truth and power of the gospel washed over me again in joy and wonder. So many lines spoke to me:

How deep the Father's love for us,

How vast beyond all measure...

Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,

Call out among the scoffers...

Why should I gain from His reward?

I cannot give an answer

But this I know with all my heart

His wounds have paid my ransom.

I was then reminded of something I had read earlier in the week from the Gospel of Matthew. In Chapter 13 we are given several of Jesus' parables regarding the kingdom of heaven. Each one is equal parts life-giving and head-scratching for me. I love the images and truths expressed, but the longer I follow Jesus, the more I know how much I still don't know.

This particular parable hit me most this time:

He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.” (verses 31-32) I cook with mustard seeds occasionally. They are tiny, beady, and non-descript. That is how the church in the world feels to me sometimes -- a tiny voice in a din of naysayers, especially as waves of violence and suffering keep washing over our world. Yet these pithy parables remind me to persevere, be patient, keep moving forward, all the while leaning into God's strength and not my own. Because in surprising ways, the kingdom keeps moving forward. I just need to open my eyes a little wider, and look for it with what John Wesley calls "spiritual senses." As the Father's deep love continues to press in upon us as "vast beyond all measure," may we grow in our awareness of what the Spirit is doing every day in our worlds. And more importantly, may we then join in! 

That realization helps me understand more as to why I haven't posted much here lately... I've been caught up in the party happening around me. Glory to God. May your 2013 be one full of the Father's deep love.

New Year's Prayers

I am spending this morning reflecting a bit on 2012 and praying for 2013. Here are some quotes and prayers that speak loudly to me. I want to share them here.


George Fox, founder of the Religious Society of Friends, wrote, “People must be led out of captivity up to God. Be patterns, be examples that your carriage and life may preach among all sorts of people, and to them. Then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in everyone.” 

The Society of Friends (a.k.a. Quakers) helped to transform America by releasing their slaves in the late 1700's, and by organizing the Underground Railroad. How are we called as followers of Christ in 2013 to stand up to systems of pain and oppression?

"Almighty and everlasting God, in whom we live and move, andhave our being; glory be to Thee for my recovery from sickness, and the continuance of my life. Grant, O my God, that I may improve the year which I am now beginning, and all the days which Thou shalt add to my life, by serious repentance and diligent obedience; that, by the help of thy Holy Spirit, I may use the means of grace to my own salvation, and at last enjoy thy presence in eternal happiness, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen." (Samuel Johnson 1709-1784).

I love this prayer. The "means of grace" are profound -- spiritual disciplines, sacraments, scripture, humble service... You are so generous God in equipping us FAR beyond our own limited capacity through your transforming love and power.

I read a bit in the genealogy of Jesus in the Book of Matthew as it starts, and it's a cavalcade of broken people. So much sin and junk in the generations of Jesus' line. I look at my own family line, and there are deep hurts as well -- as there are in every family... yet you saved me and have chosen to use my imperfect life to bless others. A miracle.

Frederick Buechner has written, “The grace of God means something like: Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn’t have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us. It’s for you I created the universe. I love you. There’s only one catch. Like any other gift, the gift of grace can be yours only if you’ll reach out and take it. Maybe being able to reach out and take it is a gift too.”

Anyone who knows me well knows that I love the Book of Philippians. All of these quotes and passages could be summed up in these two simple verses from Chapter Two, which sum up the great tension of the Christian life:

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. (verses 12-13)

May you know and love Jesus more in 2013, and may that love and knowledge flow out in abundant blessing to others. As George Fox challenged us, may we our lives preach to "all sorts of people." Happy New Year.