Heard it since you were in Sunday school right? Well, have you ever compared the Trinity to salad dressing? Or the church to palette flavors? Probably not. Have no fear- it'll all make sense by the end of this post!
Salad dressing, as we learned today in our Salad Dressing Throwdown (yes, we had a competitive salad making-off-- and you should too!) is comprised of 3 main components. 3 components like the Trinity. See how I did that?
Salad dressing= salty -- fatty -- sour
The secondary flavors of good salad dressings can also relate to faith. They relate to parts of our faith journeys.
A proper, palette pleasing salad dressing has all 3 parts: salty, fatty, and sour. Granted salad dressings come in all sorts of combinations but those 3 parts come together to form one. Like God, no? Does God not have 3 facets that come together to form one? The building blocks of God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are all essential to form one being. One being that when active in your life creates one, not only palette pleasing but also soul pleasing, experience.
Remember those great moments when you are "on fire for God" as some would say? That's the hot/spicy part of your faith journey. Your faith is alive, you're ready to go, you've got the fire. Maybe you're bold and you go on a new service trip or maybe you have discovered a passion for a certain topic. Whatever it is, you are ready to blaze a trail in the name of faith.
Sweet faith are those sentimental moments that give you the warm fuzzy feelings. When you realize how much you are loved and the unfathomable grace we've received, our faith becomes very rich and deep. We keep coming back to these moments and wanting more as we do with our favorite dessert or sweet treat.
I'm a lover of the outdoors and frequently find God when I'm out in the sunshine, gardening, or hiking in the mountains. Being outside in Creation is a form of herbaceous faith. Herbs and so many other wonderful, beautiful things were created for us to enjoy. If you ever need to be reminded of just how beautiful our Creator is- take a look outside. The mountains, trees, rivers, and weather were all created by the most masterful artist.
Finally, the indescribable part of faith. Sometimes we get just a small taste of it and other times it last for significant periods of time. The umami flavor is one of pleasure and satisfaction. Its usually found in things like meat and seafood but its rather elusive on our faith journey. Its when everything is aligned and we feel whole, blessed. This is the "cup overfloweth" kind of bear hug from all aspects of our lives.
I think of umami faith as the faith we are all trying to reach. Does that mean there won't be pain, transitions, spicy moments, or questions? No. Our faith can eb and flow but umami, just like in culinary terms, is the 5th taste, the one that no one can quite describe but everyone enjoys it. Whether everything is going wrong or you're shooting for the stars remember that God is everywhere, including in salad dressing.
