Mac and Cheese
Comfort, who doesn't have a favorite food?
Even the dead, if awoken, would respond with a favorite respite.
The range covers the whole world of food from salty to sweet, from sour to bitter, from the bland to the rich.
Mac and cheese.
Near the top of most people's favorite foods, at least in the West.
A comfort food which is given to children who fondly remember it into adulthood.
A simple, cheap dish as most comfort foods are.
There's a schism between store-bought pre-packed mac and cheese versus the homemade variety.
The average child and teen will demand the store-bought pre-packed.
Adults with there supposed refined taste pretend the homemade weak runny and burnt variety is the best.
Americans love of simple comfort.
No effort.
No demands.
Like tuning into a channel on TV that broadcasts nothing but static.
Comfort as white noise.
Comfort without effort, the American way.
Another understandable reaction to a world that requires energy.
But people are not by their very nature convenient.
The public, as well as individuals, are inconvenient.
People have to have energy to not just survive but to thrive.
Their problems, their influence, their health and well being cannot be pre-packaged, fixed in 10 minutes, consumed then discarded.
To make room in our lives for other people causes us to balk.
Even to call a friend, to visit a relative all take an effort, which will remove us from our comfort zone.
It's hard to visit that lonely person because it reminds us of our own emptiness?
It's annoying to give a hug to that friend who won't shut up?
Isn't it annoying to look up that address to send a letter to that friend you care about?
To honestly give comfort, love asks us to step out of our own safety to help those in need of relief.
Love asks more of each one of us.
It understands we will love those we know, but it asks us to add to our tally daily.
It asks us to comfort those without comfort.
It asks us to walk in the shoes of those different from us.
It asks us to recognize that any discomfort we feel in extending ourselves into the world will be compensated through our lives being made complete.
Happiness begins when we can see outside ourselves and take hold of the larger world.
Feeling uncomfortable about the state of your community, your government of yourself is a good thing.
We find comfort among those who agree with us – growth among those who don’t. – Frank A. Clark
Peace
DFrey