The kitchen is a magical place, really. Just think of all the things that can be done there? Cooking and meals bring us together. They can unite hearts or bring up the places where we are out of sync with one another. As another holiday approaches, what are you cooking up?
It seems that what we can cook up many different experiences. It all depends on what type of ingredients we choose to use. If I gather together some pumpkin, flour, sugar, eggs, raisins, and nuts, I end up with really yummy pumpkin bread. If I put some vegetables, broth and spices into a pot, I end up with a hearty vegetable soup. What I end up with depends entirely on what I put into the pot.
Cooking reminds me of the ancient art of alchemy. Alchemy was the process of transforming lead into gold. In cooking we take ordinary ingredients, things that on their own are useful and nutritive, but when combined with just the right things, turn into something far more than they were by themselves.
There are other ingredients that we work with on a daily basis as well. Things like joy, love, hope, peaceful intentions, creativity, happiness, and abundance. These are the ingredients for a life well lived. How liberally or generously we apply these and in what combination determine what we will have for supper each night.
There are other ingredients as well, that combine to create a different type of meal. Things like despair, hopelessness, criticism, depression, hate, bitterness, discontent, jealousy, and malice make for a very different meal. The one sustains us and the other poisons us.
Alchemy involves changing one thing into another. How do we change hopelessness into hope? Hate into love? Jealousy into loving acceptance? Scarcity into abundance? To change a negative into a positive is true magic. I would suggest that we must become more aware of what we are actually putting into our alchemical pots. Too often, we toss in ingredients by habit, totally unaware that our own negativity is poisoning our lives.
By observing our own habits and intentions we can begin to become conscious creators of our environment. When we see something that is less than helpful for us or for our world, we can offer it up to Source for transformation. By opening ourselves in this way, we allow the Spirit to move in and make needed changes in our hearts. This leads to an alchemical transformation in our lives. We can then more consciously choose to be a force for good in the world instead of darkness. We can make better choices about what we cook up in the world.
As Thanksgiving approaches, what are you cooking up? Love? Hope? Peace? Abundance? Gratitude? May you cook up something wonderful and that will feed your soul and the soul of your family. Blessings to you this Thanksgiving season.
Comments