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.