MC Squares: A Gluten & Dairy-Free Dessert

This past holiday my son wanted his favorite dessert we call “Squares”. It is a graham cracker crust with alternating layers of chocolate and peanut butter chips, coconut, walnuts, and marshmallows. It is pretty easy to make. The important part is to pour sweetened condensed milk over it before you add the marshmallow topping. The sweetened condensed milk acts as a ‘glue’ to hold the whole thing together. It’s really a candy bar cut into squares.

My darling daughter wanted to make it but she wanted it so that her sister-in-law who is dairy and gluten sensitive could eat it. Lots of people are finding dairy and gluten hard on their digestive system, and for various reasons have cut them out of their daily diets. Avoiding gluten and dairy can be difficult during holidays, so I wanted to share this variation of the above dessert. My daughter and daughter-in-law created it, and it had delicious results, even better tasting than the original.

The graham cracker crust was completely out since it is made of butter and wheat, so we made an oatmeal, nut butter, coconut sugar, and coconut crust. We didn’t measure anything, but I would guess a cup and a half of oatmeal, several tablespoons of nut butter (we used cashew and almond), and a few teaspoons each of coconut sugar and coconut. The important thing here is to have the whole glob of food kind of sticking together with the nut butter so you can flatten it in the pan. We also sprayed the pan with a little oil first. We did not cook the crust separately.

The layers we made with dairy-free chocolate chips, almond slices (or chopped walnuts would be good), dried cherries, coconut, and a few chopped up dates. Instead of sweetened condensed milk, the girls decided on sweetened condensed coconut milk. It is just as gluey as the dairy kind and worked well to hold the whole thing together. We topped it with marshmallows and put it in the oven (350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes), cooled it, and put it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.

The dessert turned out beautifully, and very tasty. It stuck together just like the original dairy one, and the crust held together even better than a graham cracker one! We all loved it. The cherries were delicious with the chocolate. The whole recipe was a complete success and worthy of sharing. I call them MC Squares, for Megan and Claire, my two darling daughters.

God puts the lonely in families (Psalm 68:6). I would be very lonely without my family and I am ever thankful for them. My daughter’s  desire to give her sister-in-law a sweet treat over the holidays was an example of loving kindness that warmed my heart, and is attributable to the Spirit that God has given her. One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is loving-kindness.

Jesus said if we who are evil know how to give good things to each other, how much more so does God our Father who gives the Holy Spirit to us when we ask for it. (Luke 11:13) God has given us this great gift through Jesus Christ, His very own Spirit, as a deposit for a most wonderful future He has planned for those who love him. He is our family and a great comfort to us in this life. His love is the ‘glue’ that holds us all together. Let us praise and thank Him for the love he has placed in our hearts for each other, and may God bless you in the new year.

The Spirit’s presence is shown in some way in each person for the good of all.

1 Corinthians 12:7

Kind Words

I found this happy little bee in my backyard tumbling around in one of my roses, filling up on pollen and getting it all over himself like a little pig. The pollen he eats will be used to make honey for his hive. It is interesting that God uses this little guy’s food as a comparison to kind words. A kind word said to us at the right time can stay with us our entire lives, it can change a person’s whole attitude, and even direct their path in life. I turned the surrounding roses in this photo into stained glass to remind me that kind words in church are powerful. Encouraging one another and giving each other the benefit of the doubt, letting go of grudges, and forgiving each other seventy times seven produces the sweet fragrance of Christ that people long for. God may seem stern in scripture but there is no missing how very much He loves us. His kindness flows from Christ like a fountain of honey. How very important it is to be tender to our brothers and sisters in our own church, to love and care for them as Jesus cared for us.

The Sound Side

Every year we go to the Outer Banks, a barrier island off the east coast. Our house’s worth is measured by its distance from the ocean as in oceanfront, ocean view, one block away, two blocks away, etc.  I never tire of the sudden sight of the magnificent ocean as we climb the steps over the dunes, and there it is. The wind picks up and the sound of the waves is volumes louder just as we make our way over the dunes. Families litter the beach staking their claim for the day with beach tents, chairs and umbrellas, and sand castles. This year we brought my dog and stayed in a little house on the sound side that allows pets, many blocks away from the beach. The house wasn’t much but the beauty of the sound in my backyard took my breath away. In all the times we visited this area, I’d never come to look at the sound. It took the love of my furry little friend to force me to turn my attention from the magnificence of the ocean to see the quiet beauty of the sound. Love will do that to us. Love opens us up to new experiences and possibilities we may not have otherwise considered. It reveals the deep and hidden things we never saw before. When I think of love, I think of God because God is love and the most beautiful, deep and hidden thing He has revealed is His son Jesus Christ. In Him is the fullness of God’s love for us.

La Dolce Vida and the Examined Life

Healthy Girl’s Kitchen

“I feel like I have a hangover,” my girlfriend said the next morning, although she’d had no alcohol to drink the night before. Instead, we attended a “bring a dessert” dance. We drank coffee and ate as much dessert as we wanted and danced the night away. Her sluggishness and headache the next morning were due to a high sugar intake the night before.

A life of sweets, candies, sugary drinks, white flour breads and cakes can add pounds quicker than any other ingredient. Sugar turns to fat, sugar feeds cancer, sugar is addictive, and sugar is a killer. It doesn’t really matter how you take your sugar: honey, agave, white refined sugar, fructose, fruit juice, white rice, just to name a few, sugar should be eaten sparingly. Lately, I’ve allowed a little slippage and that is not good. I will need to reign in my sugar monster and put her back in her cage.

A good way to begin cutting back on sugar is replacing it with fruit. Fruit has a lot of natural sugar in it but it also has a lot of fiber which slows the process of sugar absorption, and that reduces the likelihood of the body storing the sugar as fat. Smoothies made from frozen fruit and almond milk with a little nut butter can be a healthy substitute for ice cream. Healthy Girl’s Kitchen blog has a cookie recipe made from bananas, dried fruit, and rolled oats. These healthier choices taste great and will not put weight on us like sugary drinks and desserts.

When we discover a few extra pounds, we examine what we’ve been eating that might have contributed to the weight gain, and then we revise our diets. Our spiritual health can be the same. When we find ourselves thinking negatively, it may be time to revise our spiritual diets.  Anxiety, worry, fear, and other negative thoughts are combated by prayer and scripture. The New Testament is not called the Good News for no reason. The message of Christ is so beautiful, so uplifting, so incredibly full of loving kindness from God to us, that fears and worries melt away. We are reassured by the loving words of Jesus Christ in the Gospels, and reading the epistles or some of the Psalms helps to bring perspective to our thoughts. Giving praise to God in our prayers for all we have been blessed with turns us away from negative thoughts and into people of gratitude who find joy and contentment in life. Christ encourages us to examine our ways, our thoughts, and our relationships and consider whether they give glory to God. There are many concerns throughout the day, but rest assured that God can help with each and every one of them.

Cast all your anxieties upon Him because He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7

 

Power Salad and Power Prayers

Maybe Santa will bring me some salad scissors.

“She drinks seven sodas a day,” my friend told me, shaking his head at this overindulgence. He had recently decided to eat more healthy foods and less sugar, fat, and salt. He had educated himself on the dangers of too much sugar which now he saw was so prevalent in the diets of the people around him. What was really great was that once my friend decided to change his eating habits, he never looked back. That’s the way it was for me, too.

A great way to combat unhealthy food addictions is to start filling up on healthy foods instead. It is important to eat regularly so that we don’t grow so hungry that we have no time to prepare healthy food and begin grazing through our kitchen pantries for snack foods. If this sounds familiar, try stocking your pantry with nuts and healthy whole grain crackers. Get rid of the chips and cookies. Another great trick to avoiding hunger grazing is to have a salad in the fridge already made. My husband and I prepare a large salad every week that lasts for five days. That way it is always available for lunch. I often make extra cooked greens and roasted vegetables to have something in the fridge that will serve as a quick hot meal too, and every week I buy several kinds of fruit for snacks and smoothies. Replacing healthy foods for unhealthy foods is the first step in beating food addictions.

I love the new salad I am making and I want to share the recipe with you. It starts with coarsely chopped kale, somewhat smaller than bite-size. Kale is a fabulous green. It gets the highest ANDI rating, 1000, and is packed with energy-supporting phytonutrients. Kale is probably one of the best foods to eat and recently  I discovered how great raw kale is. Kale has a tough leaf so that most recipes call for cooking it to soften the leaf, but chopped small enough, Kale is very tasty and palatable raw. To the kale I add arugula. Arugula is a cruciferous vegetable and as such has cancer-fighting properties. I put arugula in all my salads. It is slightly bitter but I like the taste. I often think that the healthy foods we crave are the ones our bodies need and arugula is like that for me. After I have those two greens mixed, I add cilantro, marinated mushrooms, artichokes, olives, sweet red peppers, and red lentils with bulgur that I buy ready-made. Really, whatever foods you like can be added to your taste. The real secret to the deliciousness of this salad is that I use lemon humus as a dressing. I also add a tablespoon of ground flax seed and some sesame seeds. Nuts and seeds give a salad some healthy fats and flax seed is a powerful antioxidant. Dr. Fuhrman recommends eating a tablespoon a day of either flax seeds or chia seeds.

Indulging in sugary foods and drinks can be a response to emotional upheaval. Emotional eating is quite common. Comfort foods are eaten as a way of pampering ourselves when we are downhearted.  Because of their addictive nature, however, they can quickly become habitual. For example, My husband and I became empty-nesters this year. I found myself recalling the past when my kids were young and how happy I was with them, but I know that joy of being a young mother is gone now. My sweet dog also died last March and the joy I received from her is also gone and I will never get to pet and hold her again no matter how many times I dream of her. Wandering around the house with these sad thoughts usually leads me to the pantry.

The struggle to readjust to this new more solitary lifestyle has given me a lot more time for prayer. In my longing for the happiness of days gone by, God has shown me His desire to fill that empty time in my life. Practicing the presence of God brings a better comfort than food, and helps me to notice the beauty of each moment. If you find that you are downhearted and need some comfort, God can fill that need as nothing else can. Go to Him without words, without formality, come just as you are as the song says, and be still and know that He is God. He has plan for each stage of our lives. He does not leave us as children must, or die like our beloved pets who live such short lives. Emmanuel, God With Us, is available 24/7 and rather than add extra pounds or cause headaches like comfort does, God reveals in us a glorious nature like His own. Just spending time with God is a powerful way of praying that can bring us peace and comfort, and hope for new joys to come.

 Search me, O God, and know my heart!  Try me and know my thoughts!  And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! –Psalm 139:23-24

Cauliflower Prayers

Romanesco Cauliflower

“It looks like something out of the sea,” my husband picked up the vegetable displayed on the farmer’s stand. I had seen romanesco cauliflower only once before when my daughter brought one home from Mom’s Market. “Yeah, like coral.” The green spiral cone shapes of the romanesco cauliflower make it beautiful to look at as well as eat.

Even though my cauliflower mash recipe completely smashes out the fractal beauty of the vegetable, at least it keeps its pretty Chartreuse color. It’s delicious. In fact, I think it will be on my Thanksgiving Day table. Here’s how you cook it: cut off a whole head of cauliflower buds. Throw away the core center. Dump the buds in a steamer with sliced onions or shallots and cook till soft. (Use your own judgement on how much onion or shallots you want–I put in just one shallot bulb.) Mash it up with a potato masher and some roasted garlic cloves (I added about four cloves), about an 1/8th cup of cashew butter, and 1/4 C coconut manna. That simple and incredibly delicious.

Cauliflower is a pretty bland vegetable but boy can it fight. It is a powerhouse of vitamins, fiber, and phytochemicals. Sometimes our prayers for others can seem pretty bland, too. Not every prayer is a spirit-filled literary masterpiece but  they sure do have a lot of power. Praying for people is a good way of loving them from afar. Many times people’s names just pop into my thoughts while I am praying, and later on I find that the impulse to pray for that person was a timely one. So many times this has happened to me, that if I think of someone who I haven’t thought of for a long time, I take it as clue to pray for them. I think many of the people I have known throughout my life will be surprised in heaven when they find out how often I have prayed for them. In my own opinion, I think that God knows who has feelings of true love for whom, and that He uses the powerful love we feel for those special people in our lives to bring blessings to them. In this way we can truly say, no love is lost.

I have a friend who was actually awakened from her sleep with the urge to pray for her son! The next morning she got news of his perilous situation and that he had thankfully, survived it. We don’t have to say a lot of words, or even any words. All we have to do is lift the person up to God, thanking Christ for His amazing love and for that love to surround him/her. How great and grand is our glorious God who counts the prayers of people like us worthy to be received by Him. We are honored and privileged above all to be included in His loving blessings to other people. Nothing makes me feel more like a child of God than to hear that my bland cauliflower prayers have been received and answered by the almighty God. God takes our simple prayers and adds the beauty and flavors of His blessings to pour out upon those for whom we have prayed.

The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. — James 5:16(b)

Butternut Squash and The Beatitudes

Soup blender turns chunky soups into creamy soups.

“Well, they both start with the letter B,” my husband suggested the title and gave me the segue I needed. Then he said, “My work here is done,” and left me with a blank page. Sometimes I just need a little push to get started.

Butternut squash is everywhere. The harvest is on and there is nothing more tasty than butternut squash soup. My girlfriend gave me a wonderful recipe that I will share with you. “The secret,” she said and immediately my attention was hers–I love secrets, “is to roast the squash first.” So, I peeled it, chopped it into one inch squares, and sprinkled it with some garam masala and a little extra cinnamon (or whatever you like). I also added an onion and, per my girlfriend’s second secret, an apple.  I roasted all three for about 30-40 minutes until everything was soft, and then I dumped it all into a pot with some chicken broth (or vegetable if you like). I used my handy-dandy soup mixer tool that I just can’t live without to make a smooth and creamy mixture. It was pretty thick, so I added some coconut milk to make it less stewy and more soupy. I heated it all up to just about boiling and then served it with pepper and salt on the table. It was great. The apple gave it a very nice flavor. I used a red apple but my girlfriend suggested that a green one might be best. I will have to try that next time.

Something else that seems to be everywhere these days is breast cancer. October is breast cancer awareness month, so everyone is wearing pink, even our football players. Dr. Fuhrman has a bone to pick with the breast cancer awareness folks. He seems to think that it should be breast cancer prevention, as almost everyone is already “aware” of how the incidents of breast cancer are growing. He says this increase is due to our poor diet and, as you probably know, I agree with him. A high nutrient diet can help prevent breast cancer and many other cancers and diseases as well. He has said this and now the Nutritional Research Foundation is conducting a ten-year test to prove it. You can be part of the test if you are following his diet. The test hopes to prove that a high nutrient diet will indeed prevent breast cancer for many people. Let’s hope that he is right!

This cause and effect way of eating for good health is not new. What is new is all the processed foods. The cause and effect of eating heavily processed foods is poor health. The Beatitudes offer another cause and effect for the health of our spiritual lives. Jesus Christ gave us these blessings in the Sermon on the Mount, which is just another way of saying that he was giving a sermon on a hilltop. This is what He said in the Book of Matthew:

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
⁵ Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
⁷ Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

The cause and effect of pursuing these divine blessings is the way to happiness. Of course, it is not easy to admit we are spiritually bankrupt without Christ, or to be compassionate, meek, righteous, merciful, pure in heart, peaceful, or courageous enough to stand against the evil in this world as he did, just as it is not easy to stay on Dr. Fuhrman’s diet. But, at least now we know the two secrets to good health and spiritual well-being.

 

Caring for Natural Oils and Natural Prayers

After one year or less most oil, nuts, and seeds should be thrown out.

“What’s that fishy smell?” My friend wrinkled her nose at a whiff from the sunflower seeds. “They look yellow, but they still taste great.” The smell and color of these nuts reveal that they had spoiled but roasting and salting nuts can disguise the sharp rancid flavor.

Natural oils found in nuts, seeds, and whole grains are beneficial antioxidants. However, if left out too long in the air, heat, and sun they can become rancid. These spoiled oils have become oxidized themselves, losing their powerful health benefits. They are pro-inflammatory and carcinogenic even though we do not feel sick after eating them. To prevent foods from becoming rancid, store them in an airtight container and place in a cool and dark place like the refrigerator.

The health benefits of nuts, seeds, and whole grains is well-known but has caused a kitchen full of rancid foods. Because we are accustomed to the long-storage benefits of trans fats and refined foods in the past, these new monounsaturated and polyunsaturated foods are assumed to have the same long storage benefits. They do not.

Rancid oils have a stale, paint-like smell. Buy small containers of oil and store them in the refrigerator. Whole grains and flours also need to be stored in airtight containers in a cool, dark place like the refrigerator. Breads, crackers, and other whole grain baked foods will not last as long as their refined flour counterparts. Protection from air, light, and heat will slow down the oxidation of all oils. Throw out rancid food. You may lose a few pennies now but you will gain dollars later in good health.

Refined prayers that have been written down and edited can help us in times of need and stress when we are without words. I say the Our Father every day at school, once on Sunday, and sometimes throughout the week in my Holy Yoga exercise. It is the prayer Jesus Christ taught his disciples and one that is highly regarded as a structure for other prayers. Praying the Psalms can be a great comfort because they are filled with emotions that we find hard to express. One of my favorites is Psalm 51 and Psalm 23 is also a popular one, especially at funerals.

Praying a steady stream of heartfelt words can empower the Holy Spirit and bring comfort to us. Being honest in our prayers about our motives and expressing our true feelings can bring discernment and wisdom to our lives. It gives us a chance to give sober judgement to who we are and how much we need our Lord and Savior. We do not need to worry about condemning ourselves with honest prayers as God already knows our hearts and minds. He will lead us into the truth and light. Honest prayers spoken to God in secret are powerful and intimate.

Praying songs can be a way of rejoicing. Even if we are not feeling particularly joyful, songs can comfort us and bring us out of sadness. It is good to have the melody and words of songs in our thoughts throughout the day so that we are continually in prayer.

Prayers said aloud for others is a common practice. Listening to or publicly reciting memorized prayers requires concentration to prevent background thinking. Jesus admonishes long, wordy prayers that have little sincerity and are said aloud for others to think well of us. Singing contemporary music together without a worshipful attitude can seem brash and irreverent. Using King James version words like thee and thou can appear showy to young people and make them think God is some great-grandfather in the sky who has no real interest in their young, complicated lives. Changes in attitude to public prayers and songs come about when the listeners realize that it is not the beat or the old-fashioned word that counts but the sincerity of heart that matters. There are many ways to pray with sincerity and all of them are good.

Pray without ceasing. 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Omega 3, 6, and the Alpha and Omega

More Information on omega fatty acids.

“So I see that your eggs are produced from grass fed chickens. Does that mean they are omega 3 eggs?” The farmer at our local market’s quizzical look edged with annoyance told me he did not concern himself with the omega content. “Sure they’re grass fed but we supplement with high quality feed or they’d never lay enough eggs.” I pointed to the carton,”Look, it says they are.” He shook his head and glanced at the folks lined up behind me who were anxious to buy more than just a half dozen eggs. “I don’t know anything about the omega. We reuse other folks’ cartons.” I took my half dozen and hoped for the best.

What the farmer at our market had not cared to realize is that the omega 3 content in eggs and meat is two to five times higher if the animal is grass fed, and in better balance with the omega 6 content. Corn and soy meal feed can throw off the beneficial balance of omega 3 and 6 which should be about one-to-one or one-to-two. It is one of the many reasons why some doctors and dietitians recommend omega 3 eggs and grass-fed animal products.

Our diets are high in the inflammatory omega 6 fatty acid but it is not totally due to eating conventional (corn and soy meal fed) meat, chicken, and eggs. The imbalance also comes from other saturated fats and processed oils. Switching from saturated fats like butter and cream to unsaturated ones like olive oil and nut creams is the first step in a healthy diet. There are many oils to choose from: soybean, cottonseed, corn, vegetable (usually a mix of these three), olive, and flax seed oil, just to mention of few. Each of these polyunsaturated oils contain omega 3 and 6 fatty acids which are necessary for our overall health, but not all oils are equally beneficial. Vegetable oil, corn oil, cottonseed oil, and soybean oil are all poor choices since they are too high in omega 6 fatty acids. These processed oils are also used in most processed foods because they are so cheap. Consuming high amounts of omega 6 by cooking with these oils and by eating processed foods, can produce inflammation in the body and contribute to all sorts of illnesses: heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, Alzheimer’s, and various cancers.

Instead, use oil that is low in omega 6 like canola oil. Canola oil is good for cooking because it can withstand medium-high cooking temperatures. Flax seed (very high in omega 3) and olive oil are good choices for recipes that do not call for cooking, for example, most salad dressings. In addition, eat foods high in omega 3 like fatty fish (salmon, sardines, anchovies, and caviar), nuts and seeds, and leafy green vegetables, to improve the body’s overall intake of omega 3 fatty acids which are anti-inflammatory.

Omega is the last letter in the Greek alphabet and is now used to mean “the last in a series.” God used it in a pairing with the first letter of the Greek alphabet, the Alpha. He said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega.” He said it three different times in Revelations. The first is his proclamation that he is who he is, was, and will be. The second is that he is the beginning and the end, and then Jesus finally says that he is the first and the last.

Between the alpha and the omega are all the other letters that in various combinations form the finite words of scripture about God. People from every age have spent quite a deal of time contemplating these words and trying to illuminate and understand the true God. Jesus is determined by St. John to have embodied the very word of God. His actions here on earth, the words he said, the stories he told, and the incredible miracles he did have been recorded and meditated upon for incalculable amounts of time by those trying to discern who God is and what He wants from us. Who can count the number of books written about scripture, either to teach, preach, or encourage? Despite the small amount of scripture that we do have, we have certainly gotten a lot out of it.

However, God’s most important message is fully revealed in the life of Jesus Christ and the scripture we do have about him is sufficient to bring anyone to faith. Jesus is the extraordinary work of the Alpha and the Omega. Nothing is known of God that he has not chosen to make known through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is the first and last expert on himself and on us, his creatures who live humbly in grace thanks be to Jesus Christ and who live for his everlasting glory.

Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were everyone of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” John 21:25

A Little Oil and A Little Faith

“I never fry with oil. I use broth or a little water.” My girlfriend recently declared war against her bathroom scale and her growing wardrobe, growing in size that is, from an 8 to a 12. She had it with the disappointing reflection in her mirror, with her decreasing health and declining feeling of wellbeing, and she was sharing with me one of her secrets to her success: no more oil.

Imagine a tablespoon of oil. Now imagine a tablespoon of oil in a fry pan and compare it to the amount we really use. Imagine a tablespoon of salad dressing. Now compare that to the amount we use on our salads. Most likely what we actually use is more like two tablespoons, maybe even three. Oil is calorie dense and one of the most likely contributors to our increasing weight gain. Get rid of the oil and lose weight, gain health, and feel better.

Cuisines across all nations use oil. I recently experimented with a cookie recipe using teff flour, a North African cereal grain, and a half a cup of oil, among other ingredients. I just wanted the benefit of the calcium in the teff flour so I left out the sugar but I never considered the oil. The recipe turned out nicely and I started eating it for breakfast. After a few days, I noticed I had gained weight and, knowing the only thing I changed in my diet was the teff flour recipe, I realized that the oil in it was the most likely culprit.

Like salt, oil can enhance the flavors in a recipe. Oil is also one of the tools used to enhance the flavors in processed foods. The more oil, the more taste and the more fat. Dr. Furhman has a neat little diagram of a stomach filled with 400 calories of oil compared with 400 calories of greens and vegetables. The difference is striking as the stomach is quite empty on 400 calories of oil, while quite full with 400 calories of vegetables. The point is that we are still hungry after eating 400 calories of oil because our stomach are still empty, while they are completely full after eating 400 calories of greens and vegetables.

Oil is rich and eating fried or oil-laden foods causes us to overeat. Too much of this type of eating can sicken us, give us stomach aches, and over a period of a lifetime, create some pretty serious illnesses for our heart and arteries. Oil is fat and though some are more healthful than others, a little oil goes a long way. Think one tablespoon; not three.

A little faith can go a long way too. Faith, like oil, enhances the flavors in life. But how do we begin to have faith in our scientific world? People often scoff at religion for its fairytale-like stories of miracles and heaven where angels sing in the clouds. How do we take the historical Jesus seriously? Just wondering if he really existed has stumped some folks. However, virtually all historians agree that he did exist. The historical events in the New Testament line up with other historical texts, and references to Jesus can be found in texts other than the Bible. Making the assumption that Jesus actually lived is not much of a leap. A lot of experts agree that he did walk the earth once upon a time.

But what a walk. Accounts of Jesus in the Bible have him walking on water, feeding thousands with only a couple of loaves of bread and two fish, and even raising people from the dead. And healing? It seems like that’s all Jesus did wherever he went. Is believing all that accredited to faith?

I’d say faith begins with believing that Jesus lived and then died specifically as a sacrifice for sinful man. That’s not much of a leap either since crucifixion in Roman times was a common punishment for crimes, and in Jesus’ case, for blasphemy–claiming to be God.

So imagine Jesus who was a good man by anyone’s standards, letting himself be punished for crimes he did not commit, the crime of hatred toward him, and declaring right up to the end that he was dying for the very folks who were killing him. Now imagine Jesus embodied the soul of God who willingly endured a physically cruel and ultimately fatal punishment to save us from an equally cruel and fatal spiritual punishment so that He could love us forever, even while we were hating him. Going from the first image to the second is the first leap of faith, a fairly large one because it requires the acknowledgement that we are prone to evil and deserve punishment.

The belief that the historical death of Jesus met all the requirements for God’s justice against the evil in this world will flavor our lives with joy and comfort because we can approach God in peace and speak to Him as our own dear Father. Acting out that tiny bit of faith does enormous things to our lives, but getting there requires a good look in the mirror.

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Romans 5:10-11