Being the Beloved - A Monthly Blog from CFDM Northwest
By Becce Bettridge, CFDM Northwest Faculty
Over the holidays, I found myself in the kitchen more than usual. I enjoy whipping up a batch of cookies or measuring ingredients for a pie (especially if one of my grandchildren is with me). I enjoy the rich aroma of soup bubbling away on the stove or the smell of freshly baked bread. However, I tend to be an untidy cook. When I plan to get down to cooking seriously, I put on my apron. My apron signals to myself, and those around me, that I mean business. This signal says, “things are going to get messy.” “Take notice - this recipe will take more time and effort than you might expect.” But hopefully, my apron also signals that something wonderful is out there in the future, and the end product will be worth the effort and wait.
Aprons carry their own story. I made an African print apron to wear at the rehearsal dinner we prepared when my son married his college sweetheart. They had both served with the Peace Corps in Africa, and their rehearsal dinner had an African theme. I made another apron for my second son’s rehearsal dinner, but they divorced two years later. I don’t wear that apron very much.
Like most well-used (and loved) aprons, mine carry multiple stains from memorable dinners, and a few well-placed patches to hide overly-worn or torn places.
I have read that Susanna Wesley employed her apron in an unusual, but very practical part of her spiritual discipline.
Susanna was the mother of nineteen children, of whom John was the 15th and Charles the 18th. Susanna had a difficult life – not only because she was not wealthy and had so many children to raise (only 10 of them lived to adulthood) but also, her husband was twice imprisoned for fraud. Nonetheless, Susanna’s prayer practice was a daily ritual.
Whenever Susanna wanted time with God, she simply sat down in a chair and pulled her apron over her head, creating a unique prayer room. When her children saw their mother sitting in a chair with her apron over her head, they knew what she was doing and left her alone.
Aprons are a descriptive metaphor for our life with God, for life is messy and we get stained and torn. Working with the “ingredients” God has given us will take longer and require more effort than we might expect. Yet God has given us a promise to cover us with love, and that in the end, Romans 8:28 is still true…something wonderful will be the result.
Next time you put on an apron, consider it a spiritual discipline and think of it as an act of prayer.
What books, media, activities are nurturing your heart, soul, mind, strength in this season as we are loving God and our neighbor as ourselves? Post in the comments below or hop on over to our Facebook page and share with one another.