Our dinner ended on a fun note; the gift of large home-grown tomatoes that were ripening for the outdoor restaurant’s use. The owners warmly insisted. It was a gift offered and received with love.
As the tomatoes ripened, I was struggling to know how I would use them. In the end, I stumbled onto the idea that they would make a pasta sauce. With minimal ingredients available and a primitive stove, I went to work. Local olive oil, a few gentle twists of black peppercorns, salt, and low heat. Initially, the pan was filled right to the brim. As it slowly reduced, the smells were everywhere! The pasta with the stumbling-tomato-sauce took me straight to a grandmother’s kitchen in Italy.
I am still trying to figure out how I missed the obvious way to make this pasta sauce. The memories of what followed serve to remind me that missing the obvious is not as difficult as one might think. I feel as if I was a character Paul was talking about a long time ago; “How could they miss it? Because instead of trusting God, they took over. They were absorbed in what they themselves were doing. They were so absorbed in their ‘God projects’ that they didn’t notice God right in front of them, like a huge rock in the middle of the road. And so they stumbled into him and went sprawling.” (Romans 9.32)
The natural steps that led to the sauce are a model for today.
Accept life gifts with gracious humility. One did not earn or deserve them. That is never the point. They are gifts of beauty, wonder, compassion, care, and kindness. Receive them with the love that Divinity wrapped each in.
Be open and willing to work with the other. Life is never about going it alone. Life is an opportunity to learn, grow, and collaborate with others. Great outcomes are born in love, sharing, inspiration, and support. Divinity is one partner. There are many others. Each stumbling step is an opportunity to accept a hand of friendship and restoration.
