I've just discovered a wonderful book, by a writer I've never heard of, with a last name stranger than mine. As I read the forward by another "author, theatrical storyteller and performance poet," I knew I was going to enjoy Mealtime Habits of the Messiah: 40 Encounters with Jesus by Conrad Gemph.
Now this isn't some title I have rushed down to buy my local bookstore. In fact, it would have been on the bargain table. (I can tell this from the big yellow "Bargain Book" sticker on it's cover.) In fact, it was one of the "bargain books" my wife received when she joined a book club and it has lain around the house for weeks. I was expecting something more academic, but I am being presently surprised.
As Rob Lacey notes in the forward: when it comes to writing about the story of Jesus, "we need Intellectual Rigor, Respect, Serious Scholarship, but at what stage do these fine attributes morph into Academic Arrogance and Ivory Tower Isolation in a false-nose-and-glasses disguise." With his tongue firmly planted in his cheek he continues, "Maybe this is why the word academic has started to mean 'irrelevant.'. . . Let's be intelligent in our handling of the life-changing story of Jesus, . . . But then we run the risk of drowning out the voice of the little boy standing at the door, scruffy clothes and dirt-caked knees, asking, 'Can you come out to the park to play?' WASN'T IT JESUS WHO SAID THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN BELONGS TO SUCH AS THESE?'"
Jesus was at home with the Left Brain Homeland of rational and systematic logical thought. He could debate the Pharisees on the minutiae of Old Testament theology, and then nestle children in his lap, laughing and tickling them. He could construct parables (illustrations) that would stimulate the imagination of his listeners, resonate in their visual memories long after most had forgotten last week's synagogue sermon.
I love the humanness of the author's POV in the chapter "Catering On Planet Earth." When Jesus appears post-resurrection to the disciples after a night of fish-less fishing, he "is concentrating on turning over the pita bread to keep it from burning, just the way he concentrated on drawing in the sand in the 'cast the first stone' story." In truth, Jesus hasn't fried enough fish for the lot of them; he asks them to bring some of the fish they just netted while Peter is drying out from his hasty swim to shore.
At the end of this encounter, Gemph notes: "Throughout this book, you'll see and hear a very human Jesus who spoke about and did supernatural things unlike anyone else who ever lived, but also a divine Son of God who shows up on planet earth and waits and cooks and eats."
I'm loving and hating this book: I love it because Gemph dares to capture the mealtimes with Jesus in a human, realistic way. I'm hating it, because I didn't come up with this idea and write the book myself. Oh, well, Peter could you pass me some of the pita bread and a little fish. Not too overcooked please.
(Quotes taken from Mealtime Habits of the Messiah, Conrad Gempf, © 2004, Zondervan Publishers.)
Now this isn't some title I have rushed down to buy my local bookstore. In fact, it would have been on the bargain table. (I can tell this from the big yellow "Bargain Book" sticker on it's cover.) In fact, it was one of the "bargain books" my wife received when she joined a book club and it has lain around the house for weeks. I was expecting something more academic, but I am being presently surprised.
As Rob Lacey notes in the forward: when it comes to writing about the story of Jesus, "we need Intellectual Rigor, Respect, Serious Scholarship, but at what stage do these fine attributes morph into Academic Arrogance and Ivory Tower Isolation in a false-nose-and-glasses disguise." With his tongue firmly planted in his cheek he continues, "Maybe this is why the word academic has started to mean 'irrelevant.'. . . Let's be intelligent in our handling of the life-changing story of Jesus, . . . But then we run the risk of drowning out the voice of the little boy standing at the door, scruffy clothes and dirt-caked knees, asking, 'Can you come out to the park to play?' WASN'T IT JESUS WHO SAID THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN BELONGS TO SUCH AS THESE?'"Jesus was at home with the Left Brain Homeland of rational and systematic logical thought. He could debate the Pharisees on the minutiae of Old Testament theology, and then nestle children in his lap, laughing and tickling them. He could construct parables (illustrations) that would stimulate the imagination of his listeners, resonate in their visual memories long after most had forgotten last week's synagogue sermon.
I love the humanness of the author's POV in the chapter "Catering On Planet Earth." When Jesus appears post-resurrection to the disciples after a night of fish-less fishing, he "is concentrating on turning over the pita bread to keep it from burning, just the way he concentrated on drawing in the sand in the 'cast the first stone' story." In truth, Jesus hasn't fried enough fish for the lot of them; he asks them to bring some of the fish they just netted while Peter is drying out from his hasty swim to shore.
At the end of this encounter, Gemph notes: "Throughout this book, you'll see and hear a very human Jesus who spoke about and did supernatural things unlike anyone else who ever lived, but also a divine Son of God who shows up on planet earth and waits and cooks and eats."
I'm loving and hating this book: I love it because Gemph dares to capture the mealtimes with Jesus in a human, realistic way. I'm hating it, because I didn't come up with this idea and write the book myself. Oh, well, Peter could you pass me some of the pita bread and a little fish. Not too overcooked please.
(Quotes taken from Mealtime Habits of the Messiah, Conrad Gempf, © 2004, Zondervan Publishers.)
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