The Irish ‘beauty’ of food and fellowship.

If there is anyone who understands the concept of food and fellowship more than the Irish, am yet to find. From the outset it would be worth to clarify that this has nothing to do with the recent recommendations been floated by the health secretary about the sugar, salt and fat limits on the food industry. Whether the finesse of this art of food and fellowship has anything to worry Hon Jeremy Hunt when he looks at the NHS budget I do not know and I am therefore safer leaving the matter to the experts.

Everyone world over, well at least the majority, I presume have a lot of admiration for the Irish culture. While some would be known for their inclinations to specific aspects of the culture like music, some and especially those across Atlantic would be guilty for venerating anything that has GREEN on it! Personally my coordinates do not fall anywhere near the Atlantic and therefore not skewed to that kind of worship but there is nothing that stands out for me than the ‘welcomeness’ to the table by the Irish people. I know I could be accused of making a blanket statement but there goes my experience.

 Aww you are a good lad we must have you over for tea one of these days…that would be a possible statement that can be heard over in a group conversation…..with a possible response  within the same group that goes like…ohh yeah he is alright am sure he can not clear our food store.

Shrek in the movie Shrek tells the donkey what would be assumed to be the obvious that onions have layers, oooh on a second thought donkeys have no use for onions so probably they need to be informed. Like Shrek am guilty of stating what is obvious but for those not knowledgeable the Irish food come in layers one after the other and not a single layer is skipped. The climax of this ritual can not be complete without a cuppa in most cases.This should not be interpreted that when I take part I indulge with mutiny but I have over  time learnt to do things in moderation. According to my own observation the younger generations are running away from tea taking and just wondering whether this among other cultural drifts should leave the cultural anthropologist alarmed.

At the heart of the Christian message is the issue of feast and fellowship. God’s commission to the first family at the garden of Aden was that they may eat and be merry.  Throughout the scriptures we can affirm to the fact that food and fellowship was an essential component of God’s people. Where reconciliation was needed, a feast was made and fellowship restored. In times of peace and happiness a nice banquet was prepared. At the final table with His disciples Jesus had a meal with them.  Where else is it so encouraging finding the subject of food and fellowship than in the eschatological message in the book of Revelation?  What an assurance that where we are going there too will be a feast but this time with the LAMB. Whether the Irish borrows this art from the Scriptures or somewhere else I personally find awful lots of similarity!