Pastoral Care and Comfort Food
“Give praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! He is the Father who gives tender love. All comfort comes from him. He comforts us in all our troubles. Now we can comfort others when they are in trouble. We ourselves receive comfort from God.”
2 Corinthians 1:3-4, NRSV
In the early 1990s, a book was published titled Chicken Soup for the Soul and was followed by a series of “Chicken Soup” books for different groups. They were filled with ‘feel good’ stories and bits of advice meant to bring comfort to the soul in the same way comfort foods, such as chicken soup, bring comfort to the body. There are actually a variety of comfort foods that bring us comfort in more ways that just the physical effect we receive by eating them. The comfort that comes from those foods is often a result of a memory, conversation or fellowship that we associated with it.
When I served in campus ministry, much of our ministry involved food, and many times it was comfort food. We served lunch along with noonday prayer during final exams, and those lunches consisted of comfort food like chili, or soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, along with scripture and prayers. The process of preparing food can also be a time for pastoral care or comfort. I had a number of pastoral conversations with students while we worked in the kitchen together preparing a meal. The prayers and scripture coupled with conversation provided the spiritual comfort food along with the actual comfort food in the physical meal.
In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, he tells us all comfort comes from the Father who gives tender love. And so, it is that we can allow God’s love to flow through us to those who need His love. When we share a conversation, maybe accompanied by a nourishing meal, with someone going through a tough time, we can be the channel through which they receive God’s love. We can help provide that “chicken soup for the soul.” What is your favorite go-to comfort food? When you think of it, what memories come to mind? Do you remember the conversation? Now, think about how you might share God’s love through sharing comfort food—for the body or for the soul.
I will close with these comforting words that are used at the end of the Morning Prayer service in The Book of Common Prayer: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore.” (2 Corinthians 13:14)
