May 27th, 2021: Life is like a bowl of Phở
Forest Gump is one of my favorite movies. There is one funny line in it people in many parts of the world are still talking about when mention the movie.
"My mamma always said, “Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.”"
Vietnamese folks like me might want to replace a box of chocolates will a bowl of Phở. Some of you might know what that is. Here is the Wikipedia's definition of Phở:
Phở or pho is a Vietnamese soup dish consisting of broth, rice noodles, herbs, and meat, sometimes chicken. Phở is a popular food in Vietnam where it is served in households, street stalls, and restaurants countrywide. Phở is considered Vietnam's national dish.
We made the broth from beef bones, ginger, onions, and lots of aromatic spices. It has to be clear and nothing short of soup perfection. We then all the spices and flavors from star anise, cardamom, fennel seeds, and cinnamon. When they come together, the broth is tasty. We can customize it while serving. We can add condiments to please your preferred taste.
The truth is many Vietnamese restaurants claim that they serve Phở, but not too many of them are authentic.
Living our Christian lives is like making Phở. The broth is the foundation, and it takes the most time. It has to be rich with beef flavor and clear to be good. When we cheat that process, we compromise our Phở. Our life foundation is the same. It is an outcome of many years of learning and refining our characters. It is our spiritual formation. It is a lot more than just saying a specific prayer if we would like to have our life foundation to be in place. It is the lifelong journey of transformation. It takes time.
When we have the broth well prepared and cooked, other stuff can be added on and interchangeable. We can have Phở with different kinds of beef cuts, and it can be raw or cooked. We can add a variety of herbs to it. We can decide on how much rice noodles we like to have with it. We can learn many things in our lives, and we can use what we learned to serve others. We will engage in our service for God differently at different points in our lives because we mature and grow in our faith. We continue to surprise ourselves with what we can do and whom we can serve. We will never fully know how God has put us together.
1 Corinthians 13: 11
"When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things."
Colossians 3: 16
"Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God."
