Good morning…
On my way to church to work the second shift of worship services on Christmas Eve, I enjoyed dropping off a container of homemade soup for a feverish friend who was home sick with COVID. I love making and sharing soup regularly. The thick, rich smells. The warm wafting comfort. This week’s one-of-a-kind concoction included boiled broth made from turkey bones, various veggies, morsels of meat, and savory spices. The slow art of soup making is a patient, passionate labor of love.
As I made soup this week, I thought of a wonderful book I received this Christmas from a dear friend, Tear Soup by Pat Schwiebert and Chuck DeKlyen. “What’s true about soup making is also true about grieving,” explains the inside cover of this clever book. “Some cooking requires that you measure ingredients exactly. But making soup is different. Soup making is an art, and you are the artist. Improvising as you go, your only goal is that the blended creation will both satisfy your hunger and soothe what hurts you.”
The creative words and illustrations tell our story. We all have tears to shed and share as we grieve various losses in life. Which of these common losses might you most relate to?
All throughout life, we have differing sizes of pots to collect our tears. From life not being fair, to receiving bad news, to big disappointments and serious heart ache, we sometimes experience profound loss, major tragedy and “More than I can bear.” Whatever our loss, there is perfect sized pot to hold our grief.
I am not sure what sized pot I will need to hold all of the feelings I will experience as I visit my mom in the hospital in Ohio today. Will I make tear soup with my tired parents? Maybe. I do think the art of soup making offers me a perfect metaphor to process all of the emotions we will face together. Throughout the week, we will throw in this, that and the other, I suppose.
Now as you face this new day, juicy with joys and sprinkled with sorrows, how might the art of soup making help you to process your own grief? Which emotional ingredients might simmer in your pot today?
Did I not grieve for the hard days of another
or weep for the pains of the poor?
And yet when I longed for the good, evil came;
when I awaited the light, thick darkness arrived instead (Job 30:25-26, VOICE).
The slow art of soup making and the grieving of life’s sorrows, attending to each of these unique gifts is a patient, passionate labor of love.
…Sue…
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