Tuesday, March 22, 2011

My (salty) Lent Practice this Year

I place the edible purplish orb into my mouth, and bite down.  Anticipating the taste, my mouth puckers ever so slightly as the briny juice washes over my tongue.  After a couple decisive chews separating the olive from its pit, I spit out the pit.

And I can’t help but think of Christ.


Olives are firm and bitter - totally opposite of most people's idea of comfort food. When I posted recently on FaceBook that I was eating an olive, I discovered people either really like them or totally convulse at the thought of swallowing one. There's not a lot of indifference about olives - that's one reason they remind me of Jesus.
 


Another reason has its basis in a trip I took about a year ago. I packed my suitcase along with a tote bag of books, notebooks and my Bible, and headed out of town on a personal retreat.  A spiritual/writing retreat. It was several days of just me and God. I'd never done that before, and I won't soon forget it.


I didn't do much cooking that week. I ate a lot of snack bars, and resturant /coffee shop meals. God and I communed over lattes and biscotti, over roasted red pepper soup and sandwiches, and one night over olives and cheese.


I've never been an olive eater. But at the grocery store that day I spotted an olive bar and impulsively decided to take home one of each kind of olive. Black ones, green ones, French ones, Greek ones. Some I stomached okay (between bites of cheese) and some I didn’t like much at all. But I ate, and talked with my Savior as I did.



While olives themselves are bitter, slightly mealy, contain a hard pit and are not universally liked, once crushed and poured out they produce a universally prized oil. In biblical times this oil was used to anoint the heads of prophets, priests and kings - of which Christ is the ultimate.

In fact, Jesus is called “Christ” and “Messiah,” both of which mean “The Anointed One."


In biblical times olive oil was also a medicinal ingredient - reminding me that by His stripes I am healed. Those "stripes" came as my Savior was crushed and poured out. And that's what we remember at Lent. That's why we give something up or "suffer" in some way in identification with Christ.

But this Lenten season, rather than giving something up I'm adding something in: an olive a day. I stopped by the olive bar at my local Fresh Market, filled a container with olives, and I'll eat what tastes, to me, bittersweet. In remembrance of Him.


So for these reasons, at 4:45 AM this morning, I'm popping a black orb into my mouth, anticipating the earthy taste, puckering, chewing and spiting out the seed. And I'm giving thanks for the Son of God who was crushed and poured out so that you and I could be healed and anointed with His oil.

You like olives?

PS. This post is linked with Ann Kroeker's Food on Fridays.

14 comments:

  1. Love this.

    Love black olives.

    Hugs,
    Sharon

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  2. I like olives on pizza, but not by themselves. However, I really liked your post this morning! It gives it a whole new spin on the olive. Thanks for the insight!

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  3. My answer: nope.

    I think it would be easier for me to give something up than to add in an olive a day.

    What an interesting idea ~ doing something every day to make you stop and specifically think about Jesus. That makes me think, and I do love to think.

    By the way, I am sooooo looking forward to starting the online study of your book!!! Can't wait!!! :)

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  4. Great idea! I love it and I love olives and capers too. Now I have a new reason for eating them.

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  5. That is a very different and interesting idea, but I love it. What a reminder of what our Savior did for us all : )

    I do like olives on pizza and cold salads. Just had some last week : )

    Enjoy your olives!

    Sweet Blessings,
    Pam

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  6. I thought this entry was so cool I sent it to a bunch of my friends. More power to you eating olives, I can only stand them on pizza...as long as I can't taste them! I'm looking forward to reading your book next week along with Melissa's study :-).

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  7. The comparison is beautiful! Thank you!

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  8. I love this...another thought provoking blog...thank you so much. I do love olives and EVOO...can't imagine a Greek salad without Kalamata and feta...I know just where such an Olive Bar is and I will be going there tomorrow. God bless you, Rachel

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  9. Simply beautiful. I love all olives. I will never think of them the same way again. Thank you for that.

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  10. I don't care for olives. But I love this post. What a beautiful way to describe what our Savior did for us. Thank you.

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  11. love love love olives! Especially the garlic or jalapeno stuffed ones :) Yummers! And I just recently discovered the joy of capers..which I blogged about recently too :)
    Enjoy your olive a day!

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  12. Beautiful olive post. I'm going to go eat one right this minute and ponder the Savior, anointed one, for whom olives were often on the menu.

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  13. LOVE OLIVES NOW I WILL THINK OF THEM DIFFERENTLY. THANKS FOR YOUR THOUGHTS. GOOD SATURDAY AM READ. I SPEAK BLESSING TO YOU AND YOURS. I AM ORDERING YOUR BOOK AND AM GOING TO DO THE BIBLE STUDY WITH MELISSIA. I AM SO EXCITED. I READ THE FIRST CHAPTER ONLINE . IT WAS LIKE TALKING WITH A GIRLFRIEND. NOW I NEED TO BUY THE BOOK. HAVE A BLESSED WEEK-END KAY

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  14. love olives.

    love this post.

    love this book and study so far!

    Teresa

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