Declamation #2

Cooking is worship. The modern church has lost a fundamental factor in worshipping God, and enjoying him. God is not merely the God of our heart and head; He is also the God of our stomachs. A survey of the Bible demonstrates that God is interested in what we ingest. When it came to sacrificing bulls and goats, the ancient Levitic priests were commanded to cook and eat a portion of the sacrifice. The altar was not a stage for pyromania, but a divinely ordained barbecue. Moreover, the Jewish celebrations weren’t merely weeklong church services; they were feasts. Surely in the newer and better covenant this glorious aspect of worship ought not be lost, but made more glorious. Christians are called upon to prepare their hearts for corporate worship throughout the week, by the study of the scriptures in individual devotion. How much more fitting is it to prepare for the great Feast, by preparing and eating good meals? The Westminster Divines considered worship the proper response to God’s lordship, sovereignty, and goodness. There are few greater ways of celebrating God’s lordship and goodness than partaking of the vegetation and beasts that God has to men. Cooking is worship most fundamentally in that by cooking Christians are mirroring Christ who prepared food for the twelve, and for five thousand. If Christians are expected to make joyful sounds, and earnest prayers, and they certainly are, then they are also expected to make rich sauce, bake fresh bread and roast red meat.

Declamation

Everyone here has a home. And for a great number of us, our home is not Moscow. Its California, or Michigan, or Maryland. To those of us who were not born and raised here in Moscow, I have this to say: Go home. And to the locals: Get us out. If you love the school and its vision, take it back home with you. The school has a vision of cultural reformation, and quite frankly, Moscow is reformed enough already. To whom much is given much is required. We’ve been given much. What will be required of us is bigger than Moscow. As far as the people who have grown up here in Moscow are concerned: stay! Perpetuate the work that your parents have invested in, and do a good job so that nobody from out of town feels compelled to stay. We are being trained as rhetors, and I have no doubt that your hometown could use more Godly men speaking in accordance with biblical wisdom. We are being taught to love God’s Lordship over creation, and it is a rather feeble accomplishment to merely conquer a town of only 20,000 in the Northwest corner of the country. We are being taught math from a Christian worldview and the whole country is overrun by secular science. You’re being armed to deal with this problem, let Dr. Stokes handle it here in Moscow. Finally, I am sure somebody’s hometown needs a little Latin. After graduation, humbly gather what you have been given, and go home.

I Love My Adopted Family

By the way, you can view these photos individually in my slideshow at the bottom!