Absorb

In 2010 my family spent a couple days in Seward. Its a coastal town, squeezed in the small space between the mountains and the ocean. We went to a restaurant, all six of us. It was one of our first nights in Alaska and Dad was trying to convince us to try fish on this trip. Dad insisted that Alaska was ideal because the fish was guaranteed to be fresh. So, I decided to get it over with.

I ordered halibut.

It wasn't bad, but I didn't finish it either. It didn't have a fishy taste, thank goodness, but it was different. It didn't taste like much.

Dad said halibut tastes like whatever you cook it in, so if I didn't like it here I may like it somewhere else. The halibut would look similar, but taste different because it had absorbed other things.

We are absorbent people. The little things we let into our lives add a bit of flavor. Some flavors are good, some bad, some unnecessary. But unlike the halibut we choose what to absorb and what to leave. We choose the impact these things have on us.

The music I listen to doesn't always have the best flavor-- sometimes it's just bland. And movies? I don't need all those extra seasonings swirling about. I've been choosing some books with good zest, though.
In eating we sense the flavors of halibut, and almost similarly, in our spiritual lives, through the fire the quality of our lives will be revealed.