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How adventurous of an eater are you? Do you like to try new types of food, containing flavors or textures or ingredients with which you are unfamiliar, or are you someone who prefers the tried and true, the food you’ve always eaten because, well, why change when something works? When you go on vacation do you tend to find yourself in the same type of restaurant again and again, or do you look for menus that are brimming with foods you’ve never put in your mouth before? Perhaps, however, you might be somewhere in between. Maybe you prefer certain standard dishes that hit the spot again and again, but also like to challenge your palate with something new or exotic from time to time. Realistically, most of us probably fall somewhere near this last example on the spectrum of preferences. We grow up enjoying certain foods, over the years are introduced to a few new favorites, and generally continue to include those dishes which have become meaningful to us. Mom’s best dish will always bring comfort and joy. But we also realize that there is a big world of choices out there, and to limit ourselves only to those foods with which we are familiar might mean that we miss out on something exceptional. Of course, there are those flavors, ingredients or food profiles which we may have tried previously and know we don’t like and never will (cabbage!!!!), but in the grand scheme of things, good food is good food, whether it is a long-time favorite or a new delicacy.

Complicating our dietary experiences is the fact that the world has become a much smaller place. When I was a child our food choices were limited. Grocery stores in our area had shelves that were filled with standard food items. Chinese and Mexican food was considered exotic. Only in large cities could certain foods be found that today are standards in our local grocery stores. Now, you can go into a nearby supermarket and find food items that are indigenous to areas of the world I never knew existed back then. Still, do we dare to try these newly available items, or stick with what we know we like?

This is the modern world. Every day we are faced with choices our families of fifty years ago never could have  imagined. Food, in this instance, serves as a metaphor for so many other things in life. Entertainment, communications, modes of transportation, educational systems, styles of music and art, and yes, even church life have transformed in so many ways that it can be dizzying. When faced with so many choices confronting us day after day, how do we decide? Do we stick to the tried and true, the ways that make us feel comfortable, or do we take an adventurous path and jump into the new? Maybe, like our preferences in food choices, we do a little of both, holding on to the important things that continue to have meaning while at the same time looking to open ourselves up to the possibilities that new opportunities might bring.

How do we be the church in this new world, where everything seems to have changed? What choices do we make in order to best be the people of God in this place? What foundational pieces do we bring forward into the future, and what new, transformational practices do we adopt in order to fulfill the call God has given us as a congregation? How we answer these questions going forward will determine how well our ministry will thrive. May God bless us with the wisdom to decide faithfully.