McBruce en Jakkie se troue
Een van die spesiaalste dinge wat ek gedoen het onlangs was om op my oudste vriend se troue te preek. Ek en McBruce en Andy Annandale (die twee boeties verskil net ‘n jaar,maar was in dieselfde graad op skool) kom al van 1991 af saam. So toe McBruce my vra om op sy troue te preek, moes ek net ja sê. Jammer Maartje dat ek jou gedrop het vir Jonk Live! Dit was nie my skuld dit was op dieselfde datum nie.
Anyway, so toe is ek twee naweke in ‘n ry Rietkuil toe, eers vir die bachelors en toe vir die actual troue. Die bachelors het ontaard in ‘n groot party, want die vrouens het van die kitchen tea af direk soontoe gekom en saam gekuier.
Die troue self was eintlik heel goed. Wat ook spesiaal was,was die feit dat dit die kerk is waarin my ouers getrou het en waarin al drie ons kinders gedoop is. Daar het gelukkig niks regtig verkeerd geloop nie, waaroor ek nogals bly is. En waaroor ek genip het, want teen 20 minute voor die troue was daar nog nie ‘n orrelis of ‘n versiering van ‘n dag oud in daai kerk nie…en ek en die dominee wat die bevestiging gedoen het (onthou, ek kan nog net op troues preek) het mekaar skaars 30 minute voor dit vir die eerste keer gesien.
Maar eind goed, als goed. Al was die bruid ‘n bietjie pregnant en al het sy die ring aan die bruidegom se verkeerde hand probeer sit, en al het die een biker-oom wat by die troue was my in die voorportaal van die skoolsaal waar die onthaal gehou was, gekry, diep met my gepraat(did I mention he is a spitter??? Handdoek, asseblief!) en die mense kort-kort gevra, haai, drink die dominee dan? En al het ons eers ná 01:00 die oggend uit die saal uitgegaan en al het ek vroeër die middag in die ergste stofstorm ooit op ons ou plaas rally gery…was dit ‘n pretty lekker troue.
Mozzeltof!
The Feast (II); or: A Story about making Food
Wow. I didn’t think that post would attract that much attention! Thanx to everyone who read it, I hope it makes sense. To me it does, anyway. But on to more important things:
One of the things I like to do most, is to make food, especially with my friends. Wheteher it is a simple BBQ, or if we make biltong potjie, or whether it is a seafood stew – it becomes an event in itself. Eventually it is not about the end product at all, but about the process.
One of my best friends, Shaun, and I like it a lot to experiment. This past week or so in res we were kind of forced to do so, because our dining hall money is finished and therefore we are dependent on either take-aways or Pick ‘n Pay. One can only eat so much take aways, even if there is a lot to choose from, before you get tired of it. And it is expensive. That is why Pick ‘n Pay is a trouble-free option: you can buy some bread with salad, or small packets of veggies,or like we did the past week, tomato and cucumber and mix it in various ways with tuna and rice. Add some lettuce, chilli sauce and tomato sauce and voila! You have a winner. How did that chef on Ratatouille say? “Anyone can cook!” And we are bloody brilliant cooks.
When we have a BBQ, there is always something extra, like Braai Bread (we buy it or make it ourselves) or some corn on the cob or an old favourite, garlic bread. Man, that garlic goes down smoothly…
The biltongpotjie is an endeavour in itself, and no, I’m not giving out the recipe, but the people that have tasted it, know. Just ask the professors at the Theology-potjie competition, or the judges at Asterhof and Kollege’s Pot-and Pons- stall last month.
Making food is fun. Eating is nice. When you do all that together with people whose company you enjoy, it becomes a transcendent experience, almost a spiritual experience.
And the references are not that far fetched. Food and the community surrounding a dinner played an important role in the Evangelical tales of Jesus and His disciples.
In Luke 5 we read about the tax collector, Levi, that held a feast to honour Jesus, one of the occasions where the Pharisees started to moan that He wines and dines with sinners and tax collectors. There are frequent references to food, like in Luke 6 verse 1-5 and later in verse 20-26. When Jesus’ feet were anointed with the oil and the prostitute came and dried it with her hair, He was at dinner with a Pharisee.
Striking also is the multiplication of the bread, with the Matthew-versions that stand out for me. The first one takes place just after Jesus has heard about the death of His cousin, John the Baptist. Look what happens here: Jesus tries to get some alone time, but still the people decide to follow Him. He pities them and heal the sick among them. In the end He provides food to all the people, insomuch that there are baskets full left! (After that the whole walking on water with Peter takes place…)
I can also refer to the wedding in Cana, where Jesus turned the water into wine and, of course, to Zaccheus, another tax collector with whom Jesus dines. It is when Jesus are in community with these people, or rather when they are in community with Him, that their lives are changed.
And then the most important of all: the last supper with His disciples, that eventually becomes a prototype for us of true Christian community. When we eat, we share an experience with other people. We don’t just eat because our bodies need food, we also eat because we enjoy it. It is nice to have a good time with our friends and to make an event of the meal. I’m sure that Jesus intended it that way. Our communtiy around the table can become a metaphor of how we can experience community with Jesus: it is an event. Every meal differs and has different tastes and smells than the previous one. Sometimes it is the same as the one before and it doesn’t taste that nice, but actually it is all about the people we eat with.
Our relationship with Jesus is also new everyday, with different nice and less nice experiences. Sometimes it feels as if there is nothing special, as if things are just always the same, but we shouldn’t forget that it remains a “meal” together with Jesus. He is the One that meets us where we are and that never leaves. He feeds us, provide in our needs so abundant that there remain “baskets full” in the end. Even if we can’t see how it will happen right away.
Recent Comments