Dare to live differently

29th November 2010 Inch Beach, Kerry

was thinking of this time today, doesn't really fit with post written  early this morning, but hey, I don't care!

I was baking yesterday, experimenting with gluten free flours. GF food is so expensive, it tastes like cardboard and I have always felt sorry for people who couldn’t munch down on the same food as me.

Having been through a dietary mishmash for the last month, I got an insight into how difficult it can be. To refuse food in Ireland is an offense, so if you have a dietary issue it has to be brought up to explain the refusal.

I had very little time for people who continually point out they can’t eat this and that. I have a friend who until she is blue in the face will say she is allergic to seeds. She isn’t, but she does have false teeth where the seeds lodge and it is an irritant. I was so exasperated one day with a moaning Minnie friend at my house that when she started with “I can’t eat …” I got her a glass of water and called it lunch. She had so many allergies, I was fed up.

BUT

Imagine being the person with the allergy, that they have to watch everything they eat. Imagine being invited out to a swanky restaurant and having to choose a plain salad with no dressing and most of the ingredients missing. A dear friend of mine who is now dead used to order a plain steak cooked without oil and lettuce and cucumber on the side, no dressing, no carbohydrates. She loved good meaty conversation so would forego the pleasures of cooking her own food at home in order to have lively discussions in restaurants.

Allergies of any description can be life threatening and being coeliac is no exception if untreated for a long time. For some reason that is not completely clear to me osteoporosis has a higher incidence in coeliacs than the general population.

So I was baking and made American biscuits with four different flours, nuts, seeds and feta cheese. The mixture was too wet so I left it to absorb for a few minutes. That worked but the chemical reaction had taken place and I knew they would rise up. How does one roll out scone mixture without flour?

I chose ground rice as my aid and in doing so discovered something wonderful and freeing. When things are difficult and you are not sure of the answer, a prayer not only gives insight but you get bonuses.

Ground rice does not make mess. There was no flour all over everything. The clean-up was much smoother and it was good. My behaviour, in keeping God central to the whole situation, keeping Him central to me, kept his honour in the right place. The glory is all for Him. Whether I make successful biscuits or flat ones doesn’t matter, because it is not about me.

My whole life is about serving the Lord, I am finding new ways to glorify His name each day. On those days when breathing in and out is enough effort I do that in reflection of His wonderful love.

I call this GF project a penance for being short with my allergy inflicted friends, but it isn’t. God doesn’t make me do penances, I am enjoying this project immensely, enjoying the happiness it brings (or not) to my GF friends. And I found joy in ground rice, go figure!

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”