Sushi and Faith

The first time I tried sushi, I did NOT like it. My friend Kim and I met for lunch and I thought why not? I had never tried it, but was curious to see what all the hype was about. Being Portuguese I'd eaten some pretty different things...tripe, octopus and pig's feet (to name a few). I figured, raw fish can't be that bad, right? Wrong!...at least for me. I just couldn't stomach it. I was barely able to keep it down, although I did try a couple of times.

I kept thinking, why does everybody love this stuff? What is so great about sushi? Yuck! Maybe it's just a fad. I decided it wasn't for me...at least for a little while. After a couple more friends described their absolutely love for this cuisine, I decided to give it another try. It went down a lot easier than the first time, but it remained a little bit of a struggle. Still, I wasn't fully convinced sushi was for and continued wondering why people were addicted to it.

I typically wouldn't try something I didn't like for a third time, but I did...not for me, but for Kim.  She  and I were celebrating something - not really sure what given we did a lot of celebrating back then - so I took her to her favorite sushi place, Sakura Bana in Boston.  I was also very hungry because it was a late lunch. We ordered and I finally understood why so many were in love with sushi. That day I finally had the the most delicious sushi...of course the soy and wasabi helped :) I fell in love with it and have loved it ever since. I had it a few days later, the following week, the week after that and so on...I was on a roll (no pun intended). I also became more adventurous as I became more of a sushi connoisseur To this day it is one of my favorite foods!

OK, Carla, so what does all this have to do with faith?  

My experience with sushi was very similar to the one I had with faith. It may be the same struggle you are having right now or one you recall having earlier in your search for your purpose.

• Faith is hard to swallow when you first try it, especially if it's not familiar to you.
  I tried having faith and it didn't go down very well at first. "Just have faith" everyone would say. Like sushi, I couldn't grasp why everyone was making such a big deal about it.

• Give it a second chance. It took me a long while (seven years, yes seven) before I tried giving faith a try again. A lot happened in those seven years that helped me find my faith again (a story for another post), but not enough to keep me from having it shaken. I wasn't fully convinced despite the hype. I didn't seem to have the great faith others had and as a result, I wondered what was I missing. 

• Like sushi without soy sauce and wasabi, faith without hunger and focus on God, is not palatable. The last time I found (and) kept my faith, I took the focus off of me and made the commitment to keep my faith in God. See, previously, I was not focused on God and didn't have the hunger for it. Faith is a plate served up at the right place and time and under the right circumstances.

• The more I had it, the more I liked it. I realized, faith is like a muscle. The more I exercised it, the stronger it got. When you don't exercise it, your faith atrophies. Who can relate?

Sushi and Faith...two things I almost gave up on, but so glad I didn't. 

Bon appetit!