Disposable Commitments plates, plastic bag, snow, trash
Permanent not disposable dishes are a traditional gift at weddings because they symbolize two becoming one for the long haul. In this commitment is a lifetime promise to not only experience and create dreams together but also to do the mundane daily life of eating meals, cooking, cleaning, entertaining guests, and continuing routine together year after year. Yet this ultimate commitment, which is esteemed as the most committed relationship two people can have, is often reduced to less. It is cheapened, abandoned, severed and lost. Even in our loyalty to friends or goals, sometimes they start out as permanent in our minds and souls, but somewhere along the line they seem to fade, blending into the periphery of our lives and being cluttered among other discards.
"I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” Romans 7:15
Shared Sustenance plates, meals, friends, time
Last in a series for Spark and Echo Arts
We met at restaurants, homes, one on one, in groups…sometimes planned, sometimes spontaneous. Each time, we each ate from these same plates. My friends were given the plate to keep after our time together. However, in the end, it’s not about the plates. The plates are merely a backdrop for life, for interaction, essentially an experience to take place and relationships to be built. Reflective of God’s redemption of us, these plates were rescued and elevated and restored to what they were originally intended for. Like any meal, they’re not meant to stand on their own. Other elements such as food, forks, tables, people, talking, listening and orchestration of time and place are what truly make the dishes the beautiful things they are meant for. Just as these dishes cannot be what they’re fully meant to be without a communal gathering, we humans cannot be fully alive without each other and our God, who is the author of everything in our lives.
"..fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2
