Like any good Mexican family, I remember that growing up, there were always cooked beans at my parents’ house. There might be days when we ran out of salsa, or rice, or even tortillas, but never the beans! Haha. My dad wouldn’t have it any other way.
To cook them, my mom used a pressure cooker. That was the only way I knew how to cook beans. I hadn’t even realized that before pressure cookers were invented, it was normal to cook them in clay pots and constantly check the water.
During one of our visits to El Paso, my mom discovered a new kitchen gadget. Thanks to her cousins, she was introduced to the slow cooker and its advantages. One of those advantages was the convenience of not having to constantly monitor the pot, unlike with the pressure cooker, which required precise attention. With the slow cooker, it was super easy to add more water to the beans or whatever else was cooking, if needed.
The impact of that slow cooker was so great that we returned home with one. And we were all ready to try whatever came out of it.
In the kitchen, there was a window that let in the sunlight in the late afternoon. The light reflected off a white wall, illuminating the kitchen even more. This almost angelic scene was the backdrop for the moment my mom served us all, for the first time, some freshly cooked beans from the new slow cooker as part of the meal. With great anticipation, and just as much hunger, we began to eat.
The general verdict? We would never eat beans cooked any other way again. They were delicious!
From then on, the pressure cooker was retired, and the slow cooker took its place.
Some years later, I also started using a similar slow cooker in my own home as an adult. Not using it to cook those delicious beans wasn’t an option. So much so that to this day I still use a pot like that for the same purpose. By adding already boiling water, a drizzle of olive oil, and sea salt… mmm… they turn out incomparable.
I’ve started passing this homemade tradition on to my daughters. And they too have tasted the deliciousness and the difference in flavor and consistency that this little pot gives to the delicious beans, hahaha.
Less than a week ago, I realized that we had run out of beans, so I decided to cook more. As its name suggests, the pot takes time to do its job. It’s a slow cooker. For that reason, I put the beans on to cook at night, and a delicious aroma greets us in the kitchen in the mornings.
On this particular night, I was very exhausted from the day; I had been busy since very early. But when I remembered that there were no more beans, I fought against all my tiredness to put them on to cook. It’s not rocket science, I was simply exhausted.
The next morning, a delicious aroma welcomed us into the kitchen. Natalia had already gone to school, and Jessica was the one who started eating a little before I started working.
Later, Jessica told me:
—Mom, the beans were very good, but they needed salt.
Ugh… I was so tired that I didn’t even realize I hadn’t added any.
Immediately I went to the kitchen, got the salt, and added the right amount.
I proceeded to taste them, and…
Oh… what a delicacy…
And I thought,
—This salt not only gives flavor, but it gives life to these little beans, mmmm…
And you, when was the last time you noticed the difference between a subtle flavor and a full flavor?
In scripture, Jesus tells us that we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
Those flavorless beans were as if they had come to life with that little bit of salt. It’s not that they were bad, they were just bland. Is there an area of your life that you would like to have more flavor, to come alive?
The fullness of flavor made the delight even greater.
If you are the salt of the world around you, how much flavor and life do you bring to your environment?
If the Spirit leads you, share with Jesus the carpenter the flavor you experience in your life. And perhaps you will discover that it is possible for you to be flavorful and bring life to others.
Marisol
P.S.: We can hear about being the salt of the world in the readings for the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year/Cycle A.
