Hunger adds flavor to any meal.
I am fasting this morning. I am fasting in prayer that Heavenly Father will help me and each member of my family to open all the doors of possibility and that He will push us through the right ones; that He will help us to take any needful action on our part that is necessary for Him to do His part; that He will help us to find the path and pur our feet upon it.
I have been ill for several weeks. On Friday morning I made a journal entry in which I expressed I held no hope for relief from my present life situation. On Saturday morning I received an e-mail post which held out to me a baton of hope. This happened just fifteen minutes short of twenty-four hours when I had no hope. This is how I came to realize how tightly my physical health is bound to my spiritual health. I felt the weight of worry and despair that I have been carrying leave my body particle by partical. I was exhausted. I gave mental thanks for being able to breathe.
And so I came to see that I have been having what I will call a "wilderness experience". I am coming to see that this experience has been necessary and that it was necessary that it be NOW. In this context let me introduce Babbette.
Babbette's life was good, and yet it was unbearable--even in the time of her being surrounded by all that she needed to become and be the artist that she was in the finest kitchen in Paris. The very wealth and oppulance which drew upon her gifts smothered the lives of her friends, neighbors and family. She was part of the "resistence" which overthrew her clientele and made it necessary for her to flee France. A string of events that happened years earlier brought her, penniless and ill, to the threshold of a pair of devout spinster sisters. These sisters were persuaded to keep her in their service by a letter of introduction which Babbette presented them.
Babette began her wilderness experience. Not one soul in this tiny community understood her great ability. Indeed, they could not even guess. In this remote and simple village Babbette gave freely what she could, never complaining, never demanding, never correcting. She quietly went about rendering service and using what simple means she had at hand to make life more pleasant for the sisters and their little flock of fellow believers in their austere congregation. Their pastor father, long since deceased, had relied heavily upon the help of his two young and beautiful daughters while he was alive and highly regarded among the faithful. Both daughters gave up opportunites of love, fame, and fortune to remain by their father's side.
Two events brought to Babbette an opportunity to both honor the sisters' charity to her and to give her an opportunity to bless others while at the same time releasing the long hidden gifts of the artist she truely was. One was her receiving 10,000 francs and the other was the sisters' desire to honor their father with a little feast at the 50th anniversary of his passing. Babbette persuaded the sisters to allow her to prepare the menu and the feast, all at her own expense. They reluctantly agreed. Their reluctance grew to anxiety as they watched the ingerdients parade into their kitchen. They sectretly visited their congregants, desiring of them that the meal be attended but not accepted. They feared that this meal would usher in damnation of a sort.
Luckily for them all a former suitor of one of the sisters who had found worldy success and acclaim had returned to visit his grandmother who was among the sisters' invited guests. He was added to the list, bringing the number of diners up to twelve. It was this man who recognized Babette's genius and interpretted it to the other guests. He even had an ephiphany of the savior's grace which he shared with the little group.
Meanwhile, the feast had worked it's magic upon all around the table. Over the years petty slights and arguments had festered among them to the point of excluding harmony within their hearts and among their association with one another. Somehow the elgance of the dishes, the table decorations, the fine wines, the delicate dishes, all combined together to soften their hearts and open their minds to a higher truth. Whether they understood or agreed with the little speech on grace, they did feel it. They were each transported to a happier place in ther memories -- to a time before their perceived suffereing. They opened up and laughed and forgave -- forgave themselves and forgave one another.
This is grace--the miracle of forgiveness.
Man is that he might have joy, and have it more abundantly.
It is better that we pass through sorrow, that we might recognized the good.
There must needs be an opposition in all things.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Conference Call Notes: Babbette's Feast by Isac Dineson (will correct spelling of author's name later)
I really enjoyed our discussion last night and got way more out of the story as we talked. Below are the notes I took and transcribed. I was distracted at the start so I missed some of what we talked about in the opening comments. If anyone has anything to add, please do so.
Natasha
"Babet's Feast"
November 28, 2010
Discussion Notes
Brief Summary:
An austere pair of sisters opened their home to receive a French refugee, Babette, who volunteered to be their servant, taking no other compensation than room and board. The sisters instructed Babette to prepare only simple food for they felt "luxurious fare was sinful." Babette did all that was asked of her and managed to "miraculously reduce" their living expenses and produce soup-pails for the poor that had a "mysterious power to stimulate and strengthen" the sick.
The two sisters' father was a "Dean and a prophet" of a Lutheran sect. Their father could not part with them in their youth, so they stayed by his side instead of following their suitors. Years after their father's death, they continued faithfully to tend their father's flock, but were saddened by the discord among his disciples.
After twelve years of serving the sisters, Babette won a lottery of 10,000 francs and persuaded the sisters to allow her to prepare a feast with her money. The sisters were upset to see the ingredients Babette ordered arrive from France so they consulted their dinner guests and asked them not to say a word about the meal. There were twelve at the table, including one outsider, a General who took a fancy to one of the sisters in her youth. The General recognized the feast for what it is: the best cuisine France had to offer. The other people responded as if it was everyday-ordinary fare. The General gave a spontaneous speech about grace—how it is infinite, "demands nothing from us but that we shall await it with confidence and acknowledge it in gratitude." The others at the table weren't as aware that they'de been blessed by grace, but they still benefited and healed their differences.
The sisters were amazed when they learned that Babette spent her whole 10,000 francs on the meal. They said she shouldn't have done that for them. Babette insisted she did it for herself as an artistic expression. The sister who was musically gifted better understood the depth of Babette's sacrifice when she quoted a mutual friend (the singer who taught the sister): "Through all the world there goes one long cry from the heart of the artist: Give me leave to do my utmost!"
This is a powerful story of grace—with greater depth than even the author probably realized.
Gwen & Vivian Babette chose to stay in Norway.
Velinda All the people who could value her art (the French cultural elite) were gone and she had helped to destroy them so she wouldn't go back to France.
Dad The people ate the feast without sensing the power of grace.
Velinda/LNW They were still blessed and healed by the grace (even though they didn't recognize it).
Vivian The General was an interpreter of the food.
Velinda He recognized the dish "Cailles en Sarcophage" which is an allusion of the resurrection.
Vivian There were twelve at the table, an allusion to the Last Supper.
Velinda How are we like the people at the table?
Dad A prayer answered
Dawna Not recognizing the greatness of people around us.
Viv The people got past their feelings by going back to a time of purity, like a second birth. As they did this, they became pure and transcended their bad choices that had injured them. This allowed them to "tesseract" past the wounds.
Lutherans felt every pleasure must be denied and Babette invited them to enjoy their senses. They didn't overdo it—there was no feeling of heaviness. (French diners take 3 5 hours to consume a full-course meal.)
What is the calling of an artist? The sister who sang was an artist thour her only audience was her congregation. The famous singer her trained her felt she chose well to remain with them because he was largely forgotten by his audience.
People are satisfied with second-best-effort, but the artist is not.
Women tend not to acknowledge their greatness. An example is women denying their creativity.
Dad "My impression is that people evaluating didn't recognize creativity when they saw it because they didn't have a standard to go by." Dad shared his example of creatively figuring out a shoveling problem in his work.
Velinda The author could've been expressing her own wonderment on giving a full effort in her art.
Gwen Babette was enjoying the meal from the kitchen and she was glad the General was there to appreciate her efforts.
Viv Babette gave everything she had to give to provide the feast, and in that sense she is a Christ-figure.
Tara Gave the example to illustrate how, if Vance had gone ten years without being able to play the guitar and then was given one last chance to perform a concert, wouldn't he want to do all he could to perform to his very best ability?
Dawna Mom holds onto dreams and ideas—exemplified by her passion to do the salt-dough projects, the salads for family gatherings, the decorations for holidays, hollyhock dolls, crafting her afghans.
Velinda Mom is very creative; she fixed sewing projects.
Dad Babette was approached as bigger than life.
Velinda Summary/challenge: Be looking for grace and recognizing it, and seeing (even if in hindsight) how we are blessed by it even when we don't recognize it.
Natasha
"Babet's Feast"
November 28, 2010
Discussion Notes
Brief Summary:
An austere pair of sisters opened their home to receive a French refugee, Babette, who volunteered to be their servant, taking no other compensation than room and board. The sisters instructed Babette to prepare only simple food for they felt "luxurious fare was sinful." Babette did all that was asked of her and managed to "miraculously reduce" their living expenses and produce soup-pails for the poor that had a "mysterious power to stimulate and strengthen" the sick.
The two sisters' father was a "Dean and a prophet" of a Lutheran sect. Their father could not part with them in their youth, so they stayed by his side instead of following their suitors. Years after their father's death, they continued faithfully to tend their father's flock, but were saddened by the discord among his disciples.
After twelve years of serving the sisters, Babette won a lottery of 10,000 francs and persuaded the sisters to allow her to prepare a feast with her money. The sisters were upset to see the ingredients Babette ordered arrive from France so they consulted their dinner guests and asked them not to say a word about the meal. There were twelve at the table, including one outsider, a General who took a fancy to one of the sisters in her youth. The General recognized the feast for what it is: the best cuisine France had to offer. The other people responded as if it was everyday-ordinary fare. The General gave a spontaneous speech about grace—how it is infinite, "demands nothing from us but that we shall await it with confidence and acknowledge it in gratitude." The others at the table weren't as aware that they'de been blessed by grace, but they still benefited and healed their differences.
The sisters were amazed when they learned that Babette spent her whole 10,000 francs on the meal. They said she shouldn't have done that for them. Babette insisted she did it for herself as an artistic expression. The sister who was musically gifted better understood the depth of Babette's sacrifice when she quoted a mutual friend (the singer who taught the sister): "Through all the world there goes one long cry from the heart of the artist: Give me leave to do my utmost!"
This is a powerful story of grace—with greater depth than even the author probably realized.
Gwen & Vivian Babette chose to stay in Norway.
Velinda All the people who could value her art (the French cultural elite) were gone and she had helped to destroy them so she wouldn't go back to France.
Dad The people ate the feast without sensing the power of grace.
Velinda/LNW They were still blessed and healed by the grace (even though they didn't recognize it).
Vivian The General was an interpreter of the food.
Velinda He recognized the dish "Cailles en Sarcophage" which is an allusion of the resurrection.
Vivian There were twelve at the table, an allusion to the Last Supper.
Velinda How are we like the people at the table?
Dad A prayer answered
Dawna Not recognizing the greatness of people around us.
Viv The people got past their feelings by going back to a time of purity, like a second birth. As they did this, they became pure and transcended their bad choices that had injured them. This allowed them to "tesseract" past the wounds.
Lutherans felt every pleasure must be denied and Babette invited them to enjoy their senses. They didn't overdo it—there was no feeling of heaviness. (French diners take 3 5 hours to consume a full-course meal.)
What is the calling of an artist? The sister who sang was an artist thour her only audience was her congregation. The famous singer her trained her felt she chose well to remain with them because he was largely forgotten by his audience.
People are satisfied with second-best-effort, but the artist is not.
Women tend not to acknowledge their greatness. An example is women denying their creativity.
Dad "My impression is that people evaluating didn't recognize creativity when they saw it because they didn't have a standard to go by." Dad shared his example of creatively figuring out a shoveling problem in his work.
Velinda The author could've been expressing her own wonderment on giving a full effort in her art.
Gwen Babette was enjoying the meal from the kitchen and she was glad the General was there to appreciate her efforts.
Viv Babette gave everything she had to give to provide the feast, and in that sense she is a Christ-figure.
Tara Gave the example to illustrate how, if Vance had gone ten years without being able to play the guitar and then was given one last chance to perform a concert, wouldn't he want to do all he could to perform to his very best ability?
Dawna Mom holds onto dreams and ideas—exemplified by her passion to do the salt-dough projects, the salads for family gatherings, the decorations for holidays, hollyhock dolls, crafting her afghans.
Velinda Mom is very creative; she fixed sewing projects.
Dad Babette was approached as bigger than life.
Velinda Summary/challenge: Be looking for grace and recognizing it, and seeing (even if in hindsight) how we are blessed by it even when we don't recognize it.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Transition from "What If" to "What Is"
I credit the following thoughts to my sister, Natasha Boren, who shared them on a conference call.
Thesis involves Ethos, Pathos, and Logos.
Ethos is about extablishing credibility.
Pathos (passion) is what the author does (what I do) to engage the reader emotionally.
Logos is the use of logic and reason.
There are four proofs of logical reasoning
(It goes from the past to the present to the future). Another example is the Lord's prayer.
Feedback from Natasha:
This looks very good--except for fix the spelling of "establishing" on your ethos line. And following the statement "be aware that logic can be used to support anything," you might want to clarify: 'so keep yourself well-grounded in your source of truth (core book)' or 'so protect yourself from being "taken for a ride"' or anyway that you can think of to add significance to the statement.
This info comes from Tiffany Earl through the Leadership Education Mentoring Institute (LEMI), so you should probably credit her. The only part I added was the idea that the Gettysburg Address is a perfect example. I think Dad added the Lord's Prayer. Since you asked, Liber Communities is what LEMI is calling the three adult scholar projects. You don't need to reference that.
Thesis involves Ethos, Pathos, and Logos.
Ethos is about extablishing credibility.
- I introduce myself and my credentials.
- I am answering the question, "What is your authority on this subject?"
Pathos (passion) is what the author does (what I do) to engage the reader emotionally.
- This is extremely important.
- The writer must make the reader CARE before information is thrown onto the page.
- This is what gives the writer (or speaker) power to lead an audience.
Logos is the use of logic and reason.
- Be aware that logic can be used to support anything.
There are four proofs of logical reasoning
- historical example
- personal or human experience
- logic & reason
- inspiration or revelation
(It goes from the past to the present to the future). Another example is the Lord's prayer.
Feedback from Natasha:
This looks very good--except for fix the spelling of "establishing" on your ethos line. And following the statement "be aware that logic can be used to support anything," you might want to clarify: 'so keep yourself well-grounded in your source of truth (core book)' or 'so protect yourself from being "taken for a ride"' or anyway that you can think of to add significance to the statement.
This info comes from Tiffany Earl through the Leadership Education Mentoring Institute (LEMI), so you should probably credit her. The only part I added was the idea that the Gettysburg Address is a perfect example. I think Dad added the Lord's Prayer. Since you asked, Liber Communities is what LEMI is calling the three adult scholar projects. You don't need to reference that.
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