Cornbread was on the menu last night at my evening meeting. The host had made the cornbread the “right way,” the cast iron skillet heated in the oven first so that the batter sizzled as it was spooned in. Baked in the skillet. Served with butter.

The soup and the salad were excellent but it was the cornbread that filled my spirit. Made the way my mother and grandmother made it. The definition of comfort food for me.

It may not be cornbread for you, but almost everyone has foods that take them back, foods that smell and look like comfort, foods that taste like love.

We held hands around the table and gave thanks before we ate. Thanks for the hospitality offered and the care taken, thanks for our presence and our commitment, thanks for the comfort of lovingly prepared food. I was reminded to give thanks for all of the gifts received and all of the service done that make my ministry possible…that make our ministry together possible.

Rev. William Sloan Coffin preached that it was the role of the church to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. I have tried to live that in my ministry.

And yet…there is also a role for the church as sanctuary for all of our spirits, a place where we find “tidings of comfort and joy.”

The news of the world and the relentless news cycle that proclaims it, have worn us down, worn some of us out. We know there is more to come. We have not reached bottom, I fear.

As we await the winter holidays of Solstice and Christmas, I want to defend taking time to find some comfort, defend a time of rest, a time to renew and prepare our spirits for the coming New Year.

The theology of this season instructs us, reminds us that new life will come, that new hope will be found, that the light will return.

But for now, in this season of waiting, may you find cornbread on your plate and gratitude in your heart.

Blessings,

Bill