Augustine said that the Holy Trinity was like a clover, three lobes, one leaf. I woke this morning and prayed and a thought came to me.
The Kingdom of Heaven is like a restaurant.
Ok.
Alright, so here is what my early-morning-no-tea-muddled-thoughts-but-prayer-clear mind thought. We are like the patrons of a restaurant. We come in on the promise of really good food (the critics can’t be right, I mean, no food is as good as they say, right?). We’re skeptical, but we accept our seat (all seats are booths, but really nice ones that you don’t get stuck in). The waiters are angels. They are quick to serve, kind, polite and never get mad and no matter how demanding we are, always do what we ask them to do. They are real Angels.
The Management is top notch, The Mother of God is Shift manager, no matter when you show up. She takes the orders and passes them on to the Kitchen. She is always amongst the tables, checking a meal here, soothing a ruffled feather there, but any orders always go to the Kitchen.
The Kitchen Staff is of course run by the head Chef, Owner and Senior Manager. One Person, Three jobs. They are constantly on the floor, walking amongst the customers. They listen to the suggestions of the customers, but they don’t ever change how they run the restaurant.
The customers are cranky, demanding, rude and thoughtless. They ask for things the restaurant doesn’t have. They ask for strange and even deadly combinations of foods. The Chef always listens to the orders, suggestions, and smiles. He comes out and asks how the final product tastes. He makes sure that each and every piece of food that passes a customer’s lips is the right thing for that customer at that time.
He’s good like that. He always makes sure the food is the right food, healthy and nutritious, balanced and perfect. Always fresh.
Many times the customers well order these strange things, but every so often a customer comes in and says, “whatever the Chef will make for me” and the Chef goes wild. He pours His Heart into the order and it is a beautiful thing to behold.
Now this analogy fails in many ways. I can’t seem to account for Satan in my analogy. He is there, trying to confuse and change our prayers and the answers to our prayers (the “food orders”). I can’t seem to show the difference in the customers as much as it really matters to the Heavenly Father: That we have free will and that the choice of martyrs and saints is to give themselves wholy to the Lord… maybe a volunteer at the restaurant? I will have to think on this analogy more.
Anyway, this is what happens when I am only half awake.
God Bless
