baby food

Liam is a just about 7 months old, so we are elbow deep in baby food these days. For those of you without kids, here is how things roll. Basically there are two things you are looking to accomplish by force feeding your infant colored goo. First, you space out new foods a couple days at a time, so you can look for food allergies. That way, if there is a reaction, you know which food caused it. Kind of Russian roulette for babies. The other thing you are doing is trying to convince your child that these foods, like pureed peas and carrots for instance, are tasty.

This, of course, is a lie. If you don't believe me, sit down and eat a jar of it yourself. Baby "experts" say a child may need to be exposed to a new food up to 13 times before they develop a taste for it. This is an exercise in frustration, 'cause ya can't really make someone eat baby food. You can stick it in there, but there is no way to keep it in there if they don't want it in there. So parents take solace in knowing that whether or not their child is getting any nourishment, at least they can check one box on the allergy/exposure requirements.

But I digress. What feeding my son got me thinking about was our senses. Here is a little person who, four months ago, only knew one taste--just one. Then that went to two tastes, breast milk & formula. Then a couple months ago we added cereal, first rice, then oatmeal. Then one more taste at a time ad infinitum. Forget the whole texture component for a second; what an amazing paradigm shift! To go from believing there was only one taste, to two, to four, to an infinite number of tastes. And to have such a limited sample to compare it to at first. I can imagine Liam in his high chair thinking, "well, this is different . . . it tastes like . . . nothing I have ever had before." When is the last time that you could say that? That you tasted something there was no reference point for (not even chicken!)

I wonder how much of my spiritual diet is baby food? What haven't I been exposed to that would add depth and texture and color and flavor to my life. Does my exposure to the feast that is the Kingdom of God begin with oatmeal and end with strained peas? I think of all of the expressions of the Kingdom from Creation itself, other cultures, other traditions, and individual people I encounter that I may have tried once and spit back out. I wonder if the only reason I didn't develop a taste for some of those things is that I lacked the discipline to try them 13 times? It took a while for me to swallow my own tradition, and I am just now starting to develop a craving for it.

It puts a whole new perspective on Jesus' command to "Eat my flesh and drink my blood." It's like his blood must be a fine Bordeaux and I am content drinking apple juice. The Kingdom of Jesus is so much more rich and complex and full of flavor than the watered down life I am settling for.

Liam was SO excited when he tried his banana's and mixed berries today. He was grabbing for the spoon and kicking his feet. So much joy over this new discovery! And all I could think was, "just wait till you try your first filet mignon, bud." I bet Jesus thinks the same thing about me.