Chopsticks are a challenge. This reality was confirmed for me when a friend and I embarked on a culinary adventure at lunchtime the other day.
He’d learned of a local spot that serves an authentic soup dumpling. And I wondered, “What’s a soup dumpling?” But knowing that the occasional “wonder” adds a bit of zest to life’s menu, I agreed to give it a try.
Good choice, it turns out, chopsticks notwithstanding.
The soup dumpling may look a tad nondescript when it arrives at table … but there are tasty delights contained therein. What’s essential, though, is that you follow the operating instructions: 1) pick up the dumpling (with chopsticks, if you dare); 2) take a small bite of the dough; 3) tip the dumpling toward a spoon to capture the broth it contains; 4) then (and only then) slurp and chomp to your tongue’s delight.
An unexpected trio of tastes lies within…
Dough, filling, soup – this trio of ingredients combines to satisfy in surprising ways, a tasty testament to the chef’s creative skills. None of the parts would be complete without the other, nor nearly as much fun without the active engagement of the eater.
And perhaps part of the wonder for me is that I discovered the soup dumpling on the cusp of the very weekend when we celebrate the mystery of the Holy Trinity. A God-incidence, as they say: something tasty to tantalize my tongue – the tradition for which comes all the way from China … on the very weekend when we hear Jesus sending his people to “make disciples of all nations.”
The Irish have their shamrock. The Chinese have their soup dumpling. And every people on the face of the earth, somehow, have their invitation to get to know this Three-In-One God a little better … to note and celebrate God’s presence in our world. “Did anything so great ever happen before?” Moses asks his people. “Was it ever heard of?”
Theologians try hard to capture the experience. One modern scholar speaks of God revealing God’s Self to us as “a mystery that ever opens up rather than closing down.” In times gone by, Church councils used a Greek word – perichoresis – to describe the phenomenon. It means “dance” – God’s essence is a trio ever engaged in a flowing movement of joy.
When I try to wrap my heart around those heady notions, I tend to fumble things a bit – like a rookie wielding chopsticks to grasp his first soup dumpling. But God doesn’t seem to mind this ham-fistedness. Instead, even as I slurp, I can almost hear God whispering “Take and eat. Just enjoy Our essence – dough, filling, soup!”
Let us pause now…to recall that we are in the presence of the Holy & Merciful One.
IHS
With Us Still 