Rhubarb Pie

+Cordelia Marie Obermueller+

February 16, 1919 – October 12, 2010

There is nothing, absolutely nothing, like a piece of fresh rhubarb pie. If you haven’t had it, try some. (I like it best without the strawberries; they mask the unique tartness of the rhubarb.) 

Rhubarb pie will forever remind me of my grandmother, who died this past week. Grandma “Obie” was a fabulous cook, and loved to bake—cinnamon rolls! raisin cream cookies! and, oh the pies!—for her grandkids.

She was a woman of great faith. For her, baking and cooking was for fun and family and fellowship, and it had to do with serving God. She understood that God shines forth through love given in family, friends, community, and church. Especially around meals.

In October, the Festival of Booths (Tabernacles), celebrates a God who is present with people. When? At a meal! Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing. Do not grieve, for the joy of Yahweh is your strength. (Nehemiah 8:10)

God comes to people wherever they are, in whatever poor temporary tent-structures they have, whatever the condition of their life. It is in the sharing of bread—or rhubarb—that the Word truly becomes flesh and lives among us. (John 1:14) 

Help me not to grieve, but to see your presence in the people I love. Amen. 

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Babette's Feast is a priceless film about how a meal can be truly spiritual and transform lives.

On my reading list: Women, Food and God. It is a look at how one's relationship to food is a sign of something much deeper and spiritual. Sounds like what I call aesthetic logic!