What do you serve on your noodles?

Before I sat down to write this devotion, I first wanted to prepare something to eat. When I opened my kitchen cupboard, a packet of noodles almost laughed at me. Okay, noodles are a great foundation because one can do a lot with it. One can simply mix some olive oil and garlic with it, one can add tomato sauce to it, minced meat always tastes good with it, or maybe one feels like a casserole, deliciously topped with melted cheese...

It is up to the imagination of the chef, what dish to prepare from it. A foundation which offers many possibilities.

When I sat down now, the aroma of delicious food still filled the air and my thoughts were still with the noodles. But, what do noodles have to do with a devotion? Where do they link up with our faith?

The answer is quite simple, the point of contact is the word “foundation”. Precisely as noodles are the foundation for a variety of dishes, Jesus is the foundation of our faith. And precisely as everyone puts something else on his noodles, everyone lives out his faith differently. Which denomination I belong to, is a matter of taste, in the same manner as cheese or garlic are on noodles.

When the foundation is right, I can spice up the whole lot however I want. Nobody can say that this or that is the only true way to prepare noodles. Just so, there is no one true denomination of faith. Not one group is better or can claim the eternal glory for themselves. It depends solely on the preparation and on one's own taste.

Just as there is good and inferior bolognese, every religious community has good and inferior Christians depending on how much effort one puts into it.

So, I wish you a blessed day built on a good foundation, with many delicious ingredients.

Rainer Gigerich