Relishing Good Food

I read the following story on the internet the other day and it reminded me of how much we take for granted.  The joy of all the tastes and textures of good food- from a  hot savory soup, to crunchy, salty chips to creamy, sweet dessert.  I ate all of these and more yesterday - enjoyed them immensely - but was I grateful for the ability to eat and taste this wonderful abundance of good food?

Eating Tasteless Food by Kent Crockett

My father had to undergo radiation treatments for throat cancer. The therapy damaged his taste buds so that he couldn’t taste food. His inability to enjoy a meal made eating a dreaded duty. The doctors told him his taste might return after the treatments were finished, but no one could say for certain.

Weeks passed, then months. Every meal became a forced feeding to keep him alive. After eating flavorless food for over a year, he sat down for dinner one evening. Reluctantly, he forced the fork inside his mouth and discovered that his taste had returned. What most people would call a bland dinner became the best meal he had eaten in his life.

Through losing his taste and then regaining it, my father learned to relish each morsel as never before. He became thankful for the ability to taste because he now had a reference point. He would never forget what it was like to eat tasteless food.

            You don’t have to lose something in order to be thankful. You can develop a “taste” for your blessings by simply realizing what life would be like without them.

(Kent Crockett, I Once Was Blind But Now I Squint, Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2004, 164)