My weekday mornings as a child, thousands and thousands of them, started pretty much the same way every time. I awoke to the fragrance and pooka-pooka sounds of coffee being transformed in the percolator. Joining that were the sounds and smells of country bacon snapping and crackling in our cast iron skillet. Of course, well before I was awake, Dad had started all of this by lighting the burners on our gas stove. But I slept through that initial whoosh of energy. Later there would be eggs, fried over medium and, on the best days, bread toasted in the oven under the broiler, dark and crispy around the edges with four yellow bulges where the little chunks of broken butter pats had been dotted.
As anyone can tell you, I am not a morning person. I have to gradually transition from sleep, in stages; gently trading pieces of sleepiness for pieces of wakefulness. I am like a deep sea diver, slowly ascending from the depths. I will eventually come to the surface, but, oh, am I slow to take hold of the day.
So, these fragrances and gentle noises, and thoughts of eggs and toast to come, were an essential lever to get me from horizontal to vertical, especially on school days. And, because our family always talked at our meals, by the time I needed to head out the door to tackle my day, I was fully awake, ready in every way that a human being could be.
I think my memories of these morning routines are a large part of the reason why this week's John 21 passage is one of my favorites. I love the ordinariness of this episode. One night Peter says, "I'm going fishing." The rest of the guys, at loose ends, a bit shell shocked, exhausted from the "not knowing" of whatever is coming next, say, "Good idea. We'll come with you." That night's fishing, also quite ordinarily, doesn't produce a single fish. But that's not really the point of fishing, is it?
When Jesus arrives early the next morning, though, he changes everything; helps them catch a great deal of fish, and then says, "Come, and eat breakfast."
It reminds me of when God fed Elijah in 1st Kings 19, strengthening him for the 40 days journey that was still ahead of him, and, really, because of what occurred at the end of those 40 days, for all of his future actions as a prophet of God in this world.
Reeling from recent events, restless, frustrated and stressed, the Apostles needed . . . something. Jesus cooked breakfast for his people. He called them to breakfast and they came, and they ate.
God doesn't ask of us what we cannot do. It's just that we often fail to perceive what we are really capable of. And, if we will but take it, he provisions us so we can carry out what he has planned.
Come, and eat breakfast.
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http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu
READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Third Sunday of Easter (April 14, 2013)
Acts 9:1-6, (7-20)
Psalm 30
Revelation 5:11-14
John 21:1-19
Are you going to be in Waco on a Friday? We gather at 8:00 each Friday morning for food and fellowship at The Egg and I (on Franklin, behind the Outback). We have a good breakfast; eggs, bacon, pancakes, coffee . . .
And toast. Really good toast :-)
Enjoy the week!
Steve
