Sitting on a bench near the top of a mountain sat the Creator. He was tending a roaring fire. The light radiating from him burning just a little brighter than the flames. I had sought him out to ask what blessings I should be passing on to my friends and family for the New Year. What would be the most useful gift. He didn't answer right away. He smiled and picked up a long stick with a marshmallow on the end and put it over the fire.
I watched the marshmallow gently brown over the dancing fire. He was clearly better at me than making S'mores. This summer I bought the jumbo sized marshmallows thinking that for kids bigger is better. But the jumbo marshmallow wouldn't cook through all of the way so the center was cold and too firm and the outside was burned because I was not patient enough to gently roast it and thrust my stick deep into the flames to speed up the process. The 4 small Hershey bar pieces and 2 graham crackers were over-shaddowed by the unwieldy, messy and awkward jumbo marshmallow. Now a treat is a treat and we enjoyed them for sure, but still. When I snapped out of my flashback he had finished putting together two S'mores of the ideal ratio and handed me one. It was amazing. Warm, gooey, full of interesting textures and familiar tastes and smells. In companionable silence we ate and watched the flames. Although the metaphor for flames dancing is so overused it feels cliche to use it. But I can't think of any other word to describe them. For me dancing is the ultimate expression of joy, being one with all of the senses, full of energy. Honoring life with abandon.
He took a moment to lick the stickiness off of his fingers and then turned to me.
"Send them the wish of playful reverence," he said. "The way to honor the gift of life is to enjoy it. Find the balance of ingredients. Be messy. Have fun."
Happy New Year!
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