Food, Drink, and a Good Book
A few years ago, I read one of my favorite books on personal and workplace productivity. The book is called: Everything in it’s place: The life-changing power of mise-en-place to organize your life, work, and mind. It’s a mouthful, I know, but this book had a profound impact on me. I’m not sure if it is because the info in the book is well presented, the principles profound, or just simply because at it’s core, the book is about restaurant chefs.
If I had a different career path, I imagine I’d be a chef (apparently, salary package doesn’t weigh heavily on my decision tree). I love food.
I love the way colors, smells, flavors and textures combine into an unforgettable experience.
I love the way the dinner table brings people together to share in the experience. I love how, through some sort of magic, you can taste how much love the cook has put into the food. I love how the perfectly paired handcrafted coffee can elevate a desert to the HNL. ('hole ‘nutha level). Or how a perfectly prepared latte can leave flavor notes of toffee, caramel, chocolate, or even citrus on the tongue. More than the food and drink, I love to prepare and serve them to my family and friends.
There’s something magical about transferring love to a plate or cup and seeing people you love enjoying it together.
I’ve seen every Masterclass from chefs Thomas Keller, Massimo Bottura, Gordon Ramsey and Alice Waters. Yes. I love pretending to be a chef. So much so, that when my family is helping me in the kitchen, I am not satisfied that my instructions have been heard until I hear a resounding “Yes chef!” From my loving, eye rolling kids.
Everything in it’s place is about the preparation before the preparation. Before a chef can prepare food, he or she has to prepare recipes, ingredients, work spaces, tools, and his or her mind to be ready for the moment when the pot hits the fire. When the heat is turned up, a chef can’t run to the pantry for an ingredient or search for a spatula, those things have to be already ready for action. This preparation is “mise-en-place”. It’s working backward before you work forward.
Having ready what you need before you need it.
These principles, Dan Charnas asserts, have powerful implications outside of the kitchen. I’d go out on a limb and say he’s right in line with the writer of Proverbs who said things like “The sluggard does not plow in the autumn, he will seek at harvest and have nothing.”
One of my friends sent me this meme recently:
So true! I love my morning coffee. I can’t really function without it. Armed with the power of mise-en-place, every night before bed, I take great pleasure in preparing my espresso machine for that magical cup of morning brew. I make sure the machine is clean, the reservoir is full of water, the portafilter is locked in for warming up and the smart outlet is scheduled to come on just before I wake up so I can enjoy that wonderful brew right away. The scale is ready, the coffee beans are at hand. I can’t wait for morning!
How much more, should I be excited for engaging with the very words of God.
This all powerful being who made the world and everything in it wants me to know Him. He’s given me this incredible book to learn who He is and who I am. In this book are the very Words of Life.
If ever there was something to mise-en-place, it would be getting ready for times in God’s Word.
What do you need to prepare for a feast of not measly bread, but the Living Word of God?
Maybe you need to set out your journal and your pen. Maybe you need to straighten up your favorite space for meeting with God. Maybe you need to download the audio on YouVersion so you’re ready to listen on your commute. Maybe you need to be fully prepared for your next workday so you can engage with scripture without distraction. One thing is for sure, we need to pray. We can prepare all we can, but it is the Holy Spirit who guides us into truth. Proverbs 21:31 says:
“The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord.”
My prayer for you and for me is that we would desire God more than food, yes, even more than coffee. That we would so delight in God’s Word that it would be a joy to make preparations for our time with it. That we would so look forward to reading it we’ll work backwards to make sure we’ve set aside the time and gathered all the tools we need.
After all, the love we put into this is really just preparation.
Preparation to share God’s love with our family and friends. Preparation to make a defense to any one who asks for a reason for the hope in you, Preparation for one day when we see Jesus face to face and enjoy a marriage feast with Him.
I hope we’ll have everything in its place.