For my friend Lyn and in praise of cookies and the gratefulness to the prophet Isaiah and Casting Crowns
It began
as a simple plan. My friend Lyn and I
were going to have an old fashioned cookie swap. We were going to get together one afternoon and bake a few
batches of cookies to share with each other.
Instant holiday joy! Right?
Butter, sugar, flour, chocolate and nuts screams joy to me. What we didn’t count on was exactly how long
this would take, how big a mess it would make, and how tired we would be. She moved into my kitchen Saturday and at
one point we had two types of cookies in the oven, two types of dough chilling
and a pot of caramel melting on the stove.
I think the last time my kitchen was in that much chaos was when we
installed tile floor. And the tile
floor might have been easier.
I had
made a run to the grocery store at 7:30 that morning to buy: 5 lbs of flour,
butter (4 1bs), eggs (1 dozen), and 4 bags of chocolate chips, 2 lbs. of
pecans, evaporated milk, heavy cream, 2 bags of coconut, 5 lbs. of white sugar,
1 lb of brown sugar, 1 lb. of confectioner’s sugar, candied cherries and a
bottle of bourbon. (Incidentally, the
bourbon was not for baking but for drinking my new favorite Christmas drink:
Bourbon Pomegranate fizz). Drinking a
baking are very complimentary activities.
You should try it sometime.
Anywho,
we began this scrumptious adventure at 2 on Saturday and we threw in the towel
at 6. Literally. Lyn brought as many
supplies as I had bought that morning as well as her Kitchen Aid. Do not even think about attempting this kind
of a baking marathon without at least 2 Kitchen Aids, a Cuisinart, several
saucepans, about 6 mixing bowls, three sets of measuring cups, (and does anyone
even really know how much 5/16 of a cup is?
I am still pondering that one), 12 cookie sheets and multiple cookie
racks. Don’t forget an unlimited number
of spatulas will be needed as well. And even with all of that equipment on
hand, it was not exactly the easy task I had envisioned. 7 different types of
cookies later (about 12 dozen to be exact), we smelled like butter and sugar,
had flour in our hair, and chocolate on our elbows. I would also like to note that my blood glucose level was about
746.
We both
are irritated by how cooking blogs have turned into these psychodramas that
revolve around butter and sugar. She
and I both just want to read the damn recipe, not the novel on the first time
the cookie was ever made. Personally, I
think these cook/writers (and I use both terms lightly), really have never made
the recipe at all. And I really don’t
need the seventeen photos on the making of the cookie. If you need a photo of creaming butter, may
I suggest you find a series on Netflix to binge on instead. I’d personally recommend Mad Men or Breaking
Bad.
This
brings me to my other rant. Lyn was
reading a recipe on turtle cookies, (and yes they are as good as you are
imagining in your head right now). The
blogger was attempting to describe this delicious concoction of pecans,
chocolate and caramel and simply stated: There. Are. No. Words. Periods and
all. Lyn and I just couldn’t let that
go and proceeded to verbally shred this blogger. Of course there are words.
There are always words.
Scrumptious. Serious
deliciousness. Ridiculously awesome. To die for. The best thing I have ever tasted. Ever. It is so good it makes you want to slap your
momma. Can I just lay my face down in
that pan and lick it? But there are
words.
Of course
there are some tragedies that human language fail to describe. For instance, there are no words for Sandy
Hook, Ferguson, The Va. Tech massacre, the recent be-headings by ISIS, the Ebola
outbreak in West Africa, 9/11, human sex trafficking, and the crisis in
Dafur. There are no words. But cookies always have words.
Which
brings me to my real point: the prophet Isaiah. Advent’s best wordsmith.
The book of Isiah has been called “the fifth gospel.” By this I mean that so many of the themes of the gospels, incarnate in their portrayal of Jesus, have their scriptural beginnings in Isaiah. Isaiah’s connection to the story of Jesus seems particularly strong in the Advent and Christmas seasons. Even the prophet’s name — Isaiah means “Yahweh saves” — foretells the Christmas story.
The writings of Isaiah are distinguished among the Old Testament writings for their extraordinary literary quality. Isaiah was a poet who used vivid and powerful images and symbols to convey his message.
His father’s name was Amos and he was a lifelong resident of the city of Jerusalem. His concerns are those of the city, the king, and the Temple. Isaiah was called to prophetic service in the year King Uzziah of Judah died, which would have been around 742 B.C. He appears to have been around 18 years old at the time. He was married to a woman who was herself a prophetess (there were many more men and women prophets in those times than those whose writings have survived in Scripture). He had two sons. Isaiah preached at a critical time in the history of the Jewish people. The original nation of Israel had divided into two, Israel to the North and Judah to the South. Each had its own king, and they were constantly in conflict with each other and with larger, more powerful nations. Isaiah tried to advise three successive kings of Judah (Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah) who sometimes accepted his counsel but more often ignored him to follow their own priorities. Isaiah disappeared from the scene sometime around 701 B.C.
During the time of Jesus, nearly 800 years after the prophet’s own life and death, the words of Isaiah continued to be read prominently in the synagogue. Jesus probably heard more about what Isaiah had to say than about any other prophet. In the gospel of Luke, Jesus begins his ministry by reading a passage from the prophet Isaiah and applying the message to his own ministry (Luke 4:16-21).
The prophet of hope, peace, mercy and justice had this to say about Advent some 800 years before Jesus:
The grass dries up; the flower withers, but our God's word will exist forever.
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
Do you not know or have you not heard? The LORD is the eternal God, creator of the ends of the earth.
On that day the deaf shall hear; And out of gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see. The lowly will ever find joy in the LORD, and the poor rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone. You have brought them abundant joy and great rejoicing, as they rejoice before you as at the harvest, as people make merry when dividing spoils.
The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
The most decisive event in human history was summed up in one word some 800 years before Jesus was ever born. That word: Emmanuel. That is the word for things like Sandy Hook, Ferguson, Dafur, beheadings, sex trafficking, human slavery, injustice, tragedy, suffering. You are the savior we have been waiting for. In our humble hearts you will dwell. God is in us. God is for us. God is with us. Emmanuel.
Advent blessings and remembering that all is grace.
Casting Crowns...a video just to remind you of Isaiah
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