The French Meal

food-groupsWithin two or three weeks after my arrival in France in the late days of WWII, and while we were awaiting arrival of our combat equipment, I had the good fortune to be invited to partake of an extraordinary meal – French style, with a prosperous French farm family. The meal would have been impossible to enjoy and digest if it were served within the hour or so we normally allow for our evening meal. This meal took well over four hours. It was superb, and it covered the whole gamut of gastronomic understanding.

As I remember there were twelve separate courses served. Each course had a compatible beverage. Each course quite small, but ever so unique and tasty. In addition, the whole meal was conducted under the most relaxing and cordial circumstances. No hurry, relaxed conversation, no radio, no television, an atmosphere of pure sharing and enjoyment. Everyone spoke and listened. We all had an opportunity to fully enjoy and digest each course. The ultimate result was complete satisfaction and appreciation. Such an unforgettable example of excellence and fulfillment.

The lesson learned was, whenever you have something as important as a feast, or festive meal, do it right! Do it in small, but unique and essential complements to the whole experience. The stories that are contained in this section are essentially purposed to accomplish the same result as the French meal. They need to be digested separately, and over time to best provide an appreciation of their aggregate meaning. Each to be appreciated for its contribution. Each to be a part of the whole experience.

The underlying meaning of this story is twofold. It is in its own way a metaphor for life itself, but for purposes of this usage, a metaphor for understanding the purpose of the website – Relighting Us.

Metaphors are the backbone of easily understandable stories about life, and the ones we share with each other become the backbone of our communication. Welcome to this twelve course metaphorical feast. This story is the first course.

Bon Appetite.