Module 4 Personal Reflection: Life is a potluck

Aah, memories of potlucks at church or work or neighborhood block parties waft over me with aromas of questionable casseroles, mystery meat loaf, and jello salad creations (which really shouldn’t even have an aroma). I remember, as a young boy, standing in line glancing with nervous anticipation at the long tables packed with food sort-of-sorted into categories of meat dishes, vegetables, salads and desserts. As I recall, there were always some offerings scattered throughout the tables that seemed to never quite fit the traditional food categories. I suspect they would have suffered a similar fate trying to find a place on the USDA’s food guide pyramid.

I have discovered that one of the variables influencing the outcome of what comes out at a potluck is how people approach their preparation. Some creative culinary types cook up their best offerings or work diligently to proudly prepare a new recipe. Others quickly scan the kitchen cabinets or refrigerator to throw something together to make a meal. For others, it’s just easier to stop on the way to the potluck and pick up a pizza, a bag of chips or box of cookies. Everybody approaches what they bring to a potluck in different ways.

And that is why life is a potluck. We each bring what we have to offer or what we choose to offer. What we bring to the table is a rich and varied mixture of backgrounds, beliefs, experiences and insights. Some have prepared long and hard. Some have time-tested recipes for life, they have figured out the essential ingredients. Some are still shopping, seeking, and searching as they move through life. We bring ourselves and the individual ingredients of our diverse lives to this feast. It takes all of us to make the meal we are uniquely equipped to create together.

Life is a potluck. With each other and because of each other, we have sampled parts of life we may have never tasted before. Still, it is rare indeed that everybody likes everything at a potluck. We still tend to trust the most familiar dishes, the ones with which we have history and memories and comfort. But what a missed opportunity to experience diverse nourishment if we always only eat what we brought. That’s not a potluck. That’s a table for one (one person or one family or one culture) set with a boring, predictable, monotonous meal. And if life is a potluck, that approach makes for a very small life too.