Brian’s Reflection: Thursday, October 11, 2007



Vegetables are a must on a diet.
I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread,
and pumpkin pie.”

- Garfield the Cat (Jim Davis)


I’m with Garfield! In my family, we rarely had vegetables that were fresh, as I remember (probably selectively). Sometimes, in the 60’s, we had frozen. No, we liked tinned veggies. My favourite? Petit Pois - lovely little sweet peas in a tin from, I think, Del Monte - but that part I may be making up!

On this day, in 1919, food was first served on a commercial flight - from London to Paris. I have tried to find out what was served, but to no avail. Petit pois, I hope, with mashed and fois gras and Beef Wellington, just to celebrate the two cultures! Ugh, most will say. But I must say that I really like heavy English food (like suet pud) and rich fatty French food like Sweetbreads.

Spiritual diets must include the right “foods”. The sparse, “scandalous” food of the Body and Blood of the Christ. Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, with Solemn Sung Evensong - the carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie of liturgical falderal, in my humble opinion - as done of course at St Thomas, Huron Street, Toronto in “the old days”. Once, in my naïve youth, I sang the Great Litany at St. Thomas, vested in a grand cope, incense billowing around me, not of course having studied the text too well, and suddenly finding myself singing the line, “From the bishop of Rome and all of his detestable enormities, Good Lord, Deliver Us!”. Embarrassing - and I have a loud voice that can be heard in every far corner!

An antipasto of challenging, rational, mystical books. A palette cleanser of Taize chant. A dessert of an annual 4 day retreat at Mt. Calvary Retreat House, inhaling jasmine in the central garden, homemade monks’ bread, sunsets over English Bay (if I have got my directions right).

Spirituality can – and probably should, most of the time – be a gourmet’s delight!

Don’t stint, dear friends. Don’t stint.

Brian+