Paul’s Ponderings for July, 2007

Saturday evening in our home in south Texas was special. It was Chalupa Night! Even now my mouth waters just thinking about it! Our kitchen became an assembly line with a purpose: Mom would be frying up the corn tortillas, carefully inspecting each as they turned just the right color of golden brown, gently lifting each out of the hot oil and placing them on paper towels to drain all the while keeping an eye on the crumbled hamburger meat browning in the skillet. Kathy had the task of making sure the refried beans weren’t sticking to the pot (lucky her, being the oldest of us kids, she could get near the stove.). It fell to Roger and me the job of preparing the fixins––lettuce, chopped onion and tomato, guacamole, salsa, and cheese. Preparing, in this case, meant putting these goodies out on the counter…Mom had already chopped up everything, since we were not to handle knives. I was allowed to grate the sharp cheddar cheese once when I was about five. Unfortunately, just about the only thing I managed to grate were my knuckles! I’m not sure what Dad was doing all this time. He pretty much stayed away from the kitchen.

These evenings were wonderful. And not just because the food was great. There was a sort of ritual to them. In addition to the rite of preparation, detailed above, there was also the rite of assembly: one had to construct the chalupa just so, and in the right order––tortilla first, then meat and beans, cheese, lettuce, tomato, guacamole, and salsa (no onions, please). This was something my sister could never get right. She insisted on putting the cheese on last! Didn’t she realize that the cheese had to go directly on top of the meat in order to melt properly? But she was a girl––and bigger than me––so I let it pass. Preparation, assembly, gathering around the table, and giving thanks: all ritual movements in the humble liturgy of Chalupa Night.

Such events loom large in my memory of family and childhood. They are sacred to me for they convey something of the type of community God calls into being. Communities of love, mutuality, fellowship, sharing, interdependence, and support: families and congregations are made of such stuff. Oftentimes we engage in the liturgy of living without really noticing. It wasn’t until well after we quit celebrating Chalupa Night that I came to appreciate its significance to me in my formative years.

What rituals¬¬ does your family engage in? What times do you share, simply and in the presence of one another, participating in the sacred liturgy of life? You know, Church is not the only place to be in communion with others!

Thanks be to God!