Been thinking about food lately. Okay, every day. But more specifically, pastries – those pretty enticing patisseries on almost every corner of Paris vying for your attention and money. I was walking with a new sister-friend a few days ago as we were deciding where we wanted to eat lunch. We stopped to window shop at the patisserie along the way and confessed we are both former sugar junkies, and are no longer tempted by sweets. So we said “let’s move on.” But what impressed us most was how beautiful and delectable and seductive those pastries in the window appeared to the eyes, making your mouth water, but when you bite into them, they rarely live up to their advertisement.
Take a cake for instance – gateau in French – is rarely full inside, but empty, fluffy and full of air. For sugar addicts the most important ingredient in a cake is well . . . sugar, and the main reason for eating cake is to feel full, not empty – physically and emotionally. Yes!!! Well most of the pastries in the window are rarely sweet (by this expert American former sugar addict’s standards). FULL-filling? NOT. Pretty on the outside, inviting and seductive, but empty on the inside. Most apple pastries have never shook hands with an apple, but stepped in some apple sauce. I have bitten across once or twice some with real apples, but I don’t remember where I found them. They are not the norm. ;=0
Being from the U.S. my standards are different of course, and thus so are my expectations of many things. I come from a background where we believe in looking our best and putting our best foot forward, but we don’t believe in lying about what we can deliver. We believe you must practice and learn before standing in front of an audience. We believe in being who you are, saying what you mean and meaning what you say, even if you may get punished for it. LOL!! We don’t believe in flattering or lying just to get something, or to impress someone. When you eat our cake, it’s full all the way through. If you find some fluff, you can bet it's probably regular jello pudding, not the fat-free or sugar-free kind.
My grandmother Francis taught me to bake some kicking pound cakes sometimes with cream cheese, sometimes with chocolate, lemon pound and plain pound, and yes pound on top of pound. Okay enough of that. But our cakes were fulfilling AND tasty, even if for some reason they fell. That happened only once because of too much movement on the kitchen floor. We still ate the messed up cake for we knew it was good even with our eyes closed!! It was going that way anyway. LOL!
Which brings me to say, we all have different opinions, perspectives, outlooks and beliefs, and none of us are perfect no matter where we live, where we were born, our background, etc., but I believe it is better to be full of something than to live empty inside. Every time I ride the metro and walk the Paris streets I look into peoples’ faces and many eyes are dark, sad and empty, and mouths are turned downward. In my mind I wonder what’s going on inside – pain, disappointment, flatulence? Who knows right? But everybody shouldn’t be unhappy all the time in the same vicinity, should they? And they don’t know each other. Yet they are “close” to each other, sitting and standing on top of each other, disrespecting each other’s private space (topic for another blog, so stay tuned. This is a pet peeve of mine.). So this sadness and emptiness is contagious moving from heart to heart? I hope not, that’s why I try to leave breathing room between me and those around me.
An empty soul can be used, misused, abused, controlled and more easily manipulated than one who already “knows” who he or she is, what they want, and where they are going in life. As the late comedian Flip Wilson would say every week “what you see is what you get!” Empty eyes = empty lives? Or vice versa?
So what do I mean by “BC : France is like a French Pastry”? Well, I see kissing and hugging and all sorts of love-making in the streets of Paris like they could just eat each other up right there and then. And some of them do. Ahem. But does this mean it’s real, sweet on the outside, fluff or full on the inside?
BC = Before Christ. Paris is special and does not represent all of France, so maybe I should adjust that title. Also, France does not represent all of Europe. The people are different from country to country just like in America the people are different from state to state – accents, friendliness, speed, etc. Nevertheless, it has been said that for many years France hasn’t wanted anything to do with Jesus Christ’s work off, and after the cross, and so when an entire people choose to live without the active presence of their Creator, well they are like fluff – walking éclairs and croissants. Pretty seductive ladies (regular women) day and night almost nude in the dead of winter, and aroused men with emptiness (leanness) in their souls and eyes. Without the Spirit of Christ there is no life. Without God’s Word there is no light. “The entrance of Your Word gives light.” “Jesus, the Light of the world.”
If we want light to shine through our eyes when people see us, we must ask the Light of the world to light our world, from the inside. Ask Him to come into our hearts because our little flash lights and bic lighters are not enough anymore. If our personalities are seductive, but we can’t keep him or her because they found out we’re all fluff inside having no lasting substance – no fulfillment in being with and knowing us, then we need to invite the Real Deal to come in and bake us a real cake. It’s okay to advertise well. Just make sure we can back it up. God backed up His claims on Calvary over 2000 years ago. John 3:16. Now it’s cool to say, “let them eat cake!”
Much love to you!!!
