Actual Food — Birthday Cake
Sustenance for The Spirit
As a baby boomer, I have been through some rough stuff, including the death of both of my parents, in the last few years. There are tasks that have to be handled, like funerals, disbursement of finances, sorting through the worldly goods and finding proper places for them, down to each individual dust catcher. Some items symbolize great sentiment to certain friends and relatives that otherwise would definitely would be dumpster fodder. As we have plodded through the process, there are some photos that we’ve been unable to identify as far as place, time, people, etc. But some of these photos still hold some fascination in what they depict, and I have the distinct feeling there is much more story behind what we see. I especially like the old black and white photos. I love to notice the vehicles, the clothing styles, the shoes (or lack of), and most of them are carefully posed because it would have been an event to take a picture. I still remember when film was costly, not counting the cost to have it developed, so planning and forethought had to be carefully put into each photo taken.
There was one black and white photograph that caught my eye as I was quickly sifting through a pile of leftover photos, those unidentifiable ones I mentioned. This particular photo is of a boy of around five or six, blonde hair obviously being blown in the wind, wearing a thin pair of coverall shorts with no shirt, and his right hand perched just above what appears to be a birthday cake. I would suspect he’s about to plunge a finger into the icing. What’s really interesting to me is the environment. No balloons. No decorations. No other people in the photo. In fact, the environment is one I would call desolate. The cake is setting on a weathered metal stool with a broken chair in the area just behind the boy. The background is a huge empty, dirt field with little if any vegetation. It honestly is reminiscent of the black and white movie, “The Grapes of Wrath.” I can imagine…there was a young boy, and someone wanted him to feel special on his birthday so she baked him a cake, and then wanted to take his picture. They didn’t have much, so outside seemed the best option. Since she didn’t have much experience with photography, and may have borrowed the camera, and the little boy didn’t have much experience having his picture taken, we don’t see the boy’s face….he’s looking at the cake. In the midst of possible poverty, relatively high wind, nothing but dirt as far as you can see, he has cake! No wonder he is distracted by sugar. As I looked at the picture I thought of perspective and focus. The little boy might have been accustomed to wind and dirt, but cake was something different and quite special. It’s no surprise he didn’t want to take his eyes off of it.
In Psalm 40:5, David wrote, “Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare.” This is just a couple of verses after David has expressed gratitude to God for lifting him out of the “slimy pit”. Psalms is a great go-to for gaining perspective. David had his difficult days to say the least, but he maintained perspective, or at least struggled through till he regained it. David put the dirt in the background and focused on the cake, the wondrous blessings that are too numerous to count. Today, I would encourage each of us to seek the cake. Focus on the sweet blessings in front of us, even if it means we don’t look at the camera. The cake’s what is really important, after all. Have a sweet day!