This month write about God as a Shepherd (Psalm 23), God as a Protector (Psalm 57) and the story of the judgments on Egypt and how God protected and led His people (Psalm 105). Join with the Psalmists in contemplating how God is a shepherd to you, and how His mercy and faithfulness surround you.
Consider the sense of taste this month and how taste not only gives us pleasure, but how it also protects us. One of the major taste sensations is salty. This is good because our body needs a certain salt concentration to stay healthy. However, when salt levels get too high, water diffuses from our tissues into our blood and makes us thirsty and weak, and our brain shrinks.
Salt makes food taste good in small amounts but awful in large ones because too much salt activates the bitter and sour receptors in our taste buds. Our sense of taste is affected by how much of one taste we have consumed. Something that tastes great in the first few bites, may stop tasting good when we have had enough.
Like everything, taste needs to be kept in balance as our sense of taste is obviously intrinsically linked to eating. We can enjoy the flavours and sensations of the food we eat, but our sense of taste also reminds us that indulgence is not always a good thing. We must learn to develop a taste for the things that are good for us and the discipline that keeps everything balance.
Notice Creation!
This month, take time to notice the tastes of Creation. As well, pay attention to the following:
- Visit a Farmer’s Market for fresh produce. How is what you can get now different from what is available in July?
- Can you find evidence around you of other creatures? Footprints? Remnants of a meal? Scat?
- Look for spiders and their webs. In the early morning the dew will make them stand out. Be amazed by their intricacy!
- How many seed pods can you find on a walk? Think about who might make a meal from them.
