There are no onions in Creme Brulee....EVER!!!

I know that this probably is and probably will be the strangest title of one of my blogs. However, it is somewhat of an inside joke that I am willing to share in an attempt to demonstrate a connection that was made for me.

Today I was driving back from Hutto, TX where I had the distinct privilege of watching my youngest nephew get baptized. My brother and his wife asked me to be the godfather and I happily accepted. I now have four beautiful godsons. One more and I will have a basketball team. Anyway, I realized today that I do some of my deeper thinking while I am driving. Maybe deep is the wrong word. Perhaps I am just stretching my mind outside of its normal course of thought.

Last Sunday night, a group of friends and I went to a very nice restaurant in College Station to celebrate a friend’s birthday. This restaurant is a pretty classy place. In fact, you walk in and almost forget where you are. It was the type of restaurant where you order each course individually and hopefully pair it with the right wine or cocktail. If you are like me, you swallow your pride, admit your ignorance, and ask the sommelier to choose the wine for you.

The food was excellent, albeit a little pricy. The meal as a whole appears slightly pretentious or gluttonous at first. However, you quickly realize that you are paying not only for the food, but for the total dining experience. This includes being surrounded by close friends, enjoying each other’s company, and experiencing great service. Each course came out of the kitchen better than the one before it. That is, until we came to dessert.

Three people at the table ordered Crème Brulee. One of the people at the table noticed that there was something wrong with the way his Crème Brulee tasted. He asked the person sitting next to him if her Crème Brulee tasted alright. They both eventually came to the conclusion that the dessert tasted like onions. We looked over at the third person who ordered the same dessert and he was eating it with a smile on his face obviously enjoying his selection of treats. When my friend told me about the onion taste I thought he was crazy. He asked me to try the dessert and sure enough, there was a strong onion flavor. Two of the desserts were quickly sent back to the kitchen.

We have all been to a restaurant where something has arrived at our table only to discover that it was not properly cooked. Sometimes our steak is a little too well done or our food is cold and was not allowed to cook long enough. At other times, our order shows up and we are missing a side order or they forgot to substitute an item at our request. We have come to expect this sort of service at a drive thru, but certainly not at a nice restaurant where we pay a high price for our meal.

The waiter returned to our table and apologized for the incident. Apparently the chef inadvertently placed the dessert into a cooler that also contained some onions. The onions were so powerful that their odor and flavor infused itself into the Crème Brulee due to their proximity. The chef did not realize the onions were present or perhaps he would have perceived this undesired reaction and the whole situation would have been avoided. Suffice to say, the chef replaced the desserts and the rest of the meal was enjoyed immensely.

So, today, as I drove in my car, I began to meditate on the whole scenario. Here we have Crème Brulee, a dessert that I am sure is difficult to make. I do not know what all goes into making Crème Brulee but if it was simple they probably would not use the fancy French words when they put it on a menu. It was a costly dessert and I am sure the Chef took some pride in his version of it. However, the potency of the onion totally ruined his creation. Don’t get me wrong, I like onions and they certainly have their purpose, especially when they are slightly caramelized and placed over a nice steak. However, in this situation, the onion, doing nothing more than being what it was created to be, ruined the carefully prepared dessert. No one intended for the onion to be in the Crème Brulee and no one even anticipated the effect it might have just by being close.

Where am I going with this, you ask? Each one of us is created in the image and likeness of God. God takes great care in creating each and every one of us. God does not make mistakes in his creation. God did not make a mistake when He created the blind, the deaf, the lame, the leper, the child with a developmental disorder, etc. Each person is created with a purpose even though at times it may not be immediately apparent to us.

Like the Crème Brulee, each one of us consists of many ingredients that are put together in such a fashion that we have the potential to remain a wonderful creation. However, based on our environment and those who we keep close to us, the creation can be tarnished. We surround ourselves with the onions of our world everyday. These onions are things that may not be inherently bad, however, they have a negative effect on us and God did not intend them for the manner in which they are being used. Most of the time, we do not even perceive the effect they are having on us. However, the effect is strong and makes us something so undesirable that it runs the risk of being sent back. If left uncorrected and un-repaired, it certainly would not make it back to the table.

I wonder what God must say when we show Him what we have done with His creation. Today’s gospel and the words of our Lord perhaps give us some insight to what might be said, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter
but will not be strong enough. After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door, then will you stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’
He will say to you in reply, ‘I do not know where you are from. And you will say, ‘We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.’ Then he will say to you,
‘I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!’”

We run the risk of allowing ourselves to become something so tarnished, something so far from what we were created to be, that God does not even recognize us. Perhaps God will realize that we were surrounded by too many onions in this world and did nothing about it. Perhaps God will realize that we were too hot or too cold. We have heard in Rev 3:16 “So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth.” These are strong words indeed, but should we expect anything less? After all, think of the price God paid for each and every one of us. Each of us was purchased with the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is a price that none of us could even begin to pay.

When I think about it in those terms, I take another look around the table of friends that were sitting with me. I thank God for each and every one of them because they are certainly not the onions in my life. In fact, they are the ones who inspire me to try to live my life as God created me to be.

However, each day we should ask ourselves, “What are we going to do with God’s creation and will it be fit for service at His table?”

Pax Tecum,

Tom