Comfort Food

Comfort Food

As I sat this morning with my nice hot cup of coffee eating a warm bagel with cream cheese, all was quiet and still and I thought to myself, how comforting this little morning time was.  There was no rushing around, no cars on the road outside the window, just peace and quiet, hot coffee and a warm bagel with cream cheese.   Ahhhhhhh!!!!

The quiet is always great - but adding the hot coffee and warm bagel was the bonus.  The hot coffee and warm bagel was the comfort.  Comfort food !

There used to be a show on TV called "The Closer".  The main character was a bright, quirky woman that worked at the police department to solve crimes.  On those days that were particularly challenging she would retreat into her office, close the blinds, sit at her desk and reach into her top right drawer for an aluminum foil wrapped Ding Dong which was a small chocolate and whipped cream cake.  As she took that first bite, she'd close her eyes and take a deep breath and as she released that breath you could feel the tension being released as the taste of the Ding Dong in her mouth soothed and comforted her.  When everything around her was chaos and craziness, she would go back to her comfort place and reach for a Ding Dong.  Her comfort food !

The term comfort food can probably be applied to any food that when eaten causes some type of mood change or causes a person to either become nostalgic or sentimental.  For example, our family has a very long tradition of having sauerkraut and dumplings with holiday meals.  Sauerkraut and dumplings don't cause any mood changes but they do have sentimental value for our family.  I was raised having sauerkraut and dumplings at holiday meals, as was my mother and her mother.   On the very few holidays that sauerkraut and dumplings was not on the menu, it was missed.   There was just something incomplete about the meal. 

There must be some kind of psychological olfactory need we have inside of us that causes food to give us comfort. I am certain though, that using food as a comforter can have a positive effect as well as a negative effect as in the example of obesity.  You have to be smart and somewhat disciplined to avoid that outcome.

For some people comfort food is chocolate, for some it is ice cream, for some it is meatloaf or macaroni & cheese.  Finding momentary comfort in a food is just that, momentary.  It is a temporary quick fix to what ails you.  Just as this morning, my hot coffee and warm bagel were momentary -- for within minutes, the dogs started barking at "nothing", my hubby woke up wanting to know what the plans were for the day, the neighborhood started to revive and the quiet comfort moment was gone.

There is however, a place where I can always find comfort.  It is not momentary.  It is not temporary.  It is not fleeting.   It is the place where God resides in my heart and mind.  I can go there anytime and He is always waiting with open arms to hold and hug me and give me comfort in those times I need it or want it.  He is merely a thought away!!  Ahhhhhhh!!!!

"Thou wilt keep him in peace whose mind is stayed on Thee; because he trusteth in Thee."  (KJV)
Isaiah 26:3

"May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant."  Psalm 119: 76

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us  in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God."  2 Corinthians 1: 3, 4