SOUP

I love soup. My favorites are New England chowder, wild rice, vegetable, minestrone, pasta fagioli and black bean. I think soups that are designed to be cold (vichyssoise, gaspacho) are a travesty to soup-dom. This week I had the opportunity to take advantage of a soup bar for dinner. And when I say 'take advantage,' that's what I mean. There is nothing better than endless bowls of great soup.

The best soup I ever had in my whole life was a bowl of tomato bisque. Joelene and I were sitting in the Piazza Navona in Rome and supper was simply an amazing bowl of tomato soup. I'm still trying to decide years later whether it was the soup or the setting that made it so amazing. Don't ruin it for me.

All the soups I mentioned at top can probably be categorized as 'hearty' soups -- meaning they have substance. It's what my grandma used to say would 'stick to your bones' on a cold day.

It's also what God calls us to do in Colossians 3:23 when He says to serve Him in a 'hearty' way -- wide open - pedal to the metal - with passion - pouring out heart and soul.

Take the opposite of being 'hearty' for God ... 'He did it half-heartedly' ... 'Her heart wasn't in it.' That's no good. Who wants that said about yourself?

Nobody can determine what 'hearty' is for you - but you. We also have to make a distinction between momentary heart and everyday heart. Everybody has spikes of inspiration - flashes of zeal - mountaintop highs that last for a few seconds then fade.

You see the how-to guy on the TV commercial putting up a 4-car garage and you get motivated to call the 800-number and 8 weeks later you have delivered to your home four crates of building materials -- except that by that time you've lost the heart.

You come home from a retreat for couples inspired to start getting your wife up at 4:30 every morning to read a few Scriptures and pray together. You have heart. Then one morning you hit the snooze button a few extra times and the next week you skip a couple of days and before you know it, a month after the retreat, you're back to heart-less life.

When you try to maintain bursts of heart, you are more likely to end up having a coronary.

The key is 'hearty' - from your soul. Love God that way - heart and soul, mind and strength. Love your neighbor that way - with everything you have. But that only comes when you let your heart get refreshed by spending some time with God. Jesus tells us to live in those kinds of depths. That's hearty living - and it spills over.

Soup's on.

And be blessed.