Sadly it was my turn to cook this week. Don’t get me wrong; I’m a liberated guy. I’ve exchanged the couch and TV remote for a crock-pot and fish slice. It’s all good. However I’m still a quick fix kind of person. So this week I unleashed precooked sausages, mashed potato and salad on the family. The problem was, I overcooked the precooked sausages so they resembled something nasty you might find on the street.
I was in the supermarket last night and for the first time I noticed the growing number of pre-packed meals. In fact nearly everything in the frozen goods section was pre-prepared for convenience right down to scallops and battered prawns.
On one level I found myself quite pleased; it would leave me more time for the couch and remote. On the other hand I was just a little disturbed. Why do I need this mollycoddling in the culinary department? Is it so I can get on with the really important things in life and not be concerned with the mundane and difficult process of preparation? Why do I need it now and we need it fast? Because quality is now second to speed.
The really frightening observation is how this same kind of pre-packaged mollycoddling has crept into politics. Whenever the media confronts us with a national social crisis like child abuse, there is a flurry of activity to produce some instant programme that will change society by sometime next week. Most of us are cynical (I mean sensible) enough to know it won’t, but at least we’ll feel better about it.
Perhaps that’s the real problem with food and society – it’s all about flavour and perception. If it tastes good and feels good, it probably…..isn’t.
I hate to be the spiritual nag, but for a society obsessed with intellectual standards and awards, we’ve really dropped the ball in normal life. What on earth makes me think that life will be better if I can do things like cook faster? What makes us think that society will change for the better if compulsory questions are asked in hospitals, or if we tear a generation of children away from dodgy parents without reference to the spiritual and emotional attachments kids have with even the most awful parents?
Like my ongoing weight issue, a faster programme will not change a thing. A lifestyle change is required. I don’t know about you, but changing habits and behaviours takes more than legislation and the threat of impending community judgement. Such transformation requires a change of heart, a seismic shift in our worldview, and so far as I’m aware, no government has ever achieved that.
I have seen people change dramatically over the years. It takes a long time, but it does happen. What matters most is the catalyst. It’s never a programme of policy, it’s always through relationship. Firstly with God, then with caring people. Jesus called it being born again. You can call it what you like.
A good life takes a lifetime, but it always starts with a good birth. Sometimes it’s rebirth.
© Digby Wilkinson 2007