Spiritual skills…in the kitchen?

It started off as a family joke—that I was a hopeless cook. My mother had always been a good cook and, when I was a teenager, I had a few disastrous experiences that led everyone to believe I wasn’t exactly a genius in the kitchen.

But twenty years down the track, we were all still laughing about it. And because of those jokes, I became reluctant to prepare meals in case I made mistakes. This meant that I only made very basic dinners and shied away from cooking at all costs. And as for hosting dinner parties—forget it. The joke had taken on a life of its own and ended up controlling how I felt about myself and my abilities. It wasn’t until recently that I decided to actually pray about this issue.

During a conversation with my neighbors, the “fact” that I couldn’t cook resurfaced. Only this time, something in me stirred. My study of Christian Science has taught me to think of myself as God’s expression—unlimited, talented and capable of all good. And that I needed to start identifying myself in the same way divine Love, God, did– as full of potential and possibilities in every area of my life, even cooking.

Humbly, I turned to God and asked Him to help me overcome my insecurities. Christian Science has taught me that any problem can be faced mentally, that it’s really thought that needs to change. I’ve learned that prayer helps me to align my thinking with what God knows about me. And when my thought is in line with what God knows about me, progress and healing occurs.

When I began to pray about this situation, I started to see the act of preparing food differently. Instead of seeing cooking as a chore, I began to see that it could be a creative endeavor. Because I love creativity, and naturally express artistry as divine Love’s idea, I began to see I could move past my fear in the kitchen and actually have fun. The qualities of freshness, newness and unlimited potential all come from a divine Source. To me, expressing creativity is actually like having a conversation with God.

I remembered that I’d actually cooked a few decent meals for friends when I first began working. So I realized that it was possible for me to cook well, I just had to continue to pray about the fear of messing up.

I also addressed some assumptions I’d made about cooking—first, that it was something that put women in a submissive role. But I soon realized that cooking could be seen as an expression of love, no matter who was in the kitchen. In a way, not learning to cook had been my own act of mini-rebellion. And since my husband had been doing most of the cooking for our married life, I suddenly felt it would be totally appropriate for me to share that role.

The second assumption I’d made about cooking was that it was a waste of time. One day, an idea came to me to go to a secondhand bookstore and look in the cooking section, something I wouldn’t normally do. I saw a beautiful cookbook that was in brand new condition for half price. As I browsed through its pages, I found the author’s comments interesting. She said that she loved cooking because it was special time she got all to herself. It occurred to me that I could use my time in the kitchen to be still mentally, and focus my thoughts on God in the midst of busy days.

When I returned home, with my newly-purchased cookbook, I was inspired to ask my neighbors if they’d like to come to our place for dinner over the weekend. So I spent most of that Saturday preparing a three course meal – with delight and enthusiasm. While I was cooking, I thanked God that I could enjoy this activity and that my fear and insecurity had disappeared. It was also rewarding to mentally sum up what I’d been learning—that cooking could be creative (not boring), a loving gesture (not a chore), and provide a special time to pray (instead of be a waste of time).

Our neighbors came to dinner Saturday night and could not believe what they saw. They told me I must have just been joking when I said I couldn’t cook! At the end of the meal, they said the food was wonderful. I was delighted with how it turned out and felt that it went so well because I was listening to God while preparing dinner, letting each task be motivated by love.

Since then, my pantry has been stocked with lots of interesting ingredients. I’ve learned to make some fun new recipes and cooked another three course dinner for my husband’s family. In fact, I can say that now I love cooking. And that old joke about my skills in the kitchen? It’s finally been put to rest.

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