The grinding that gets to the fragrance of the self-image
I’ve been intrigued with the mortar and pestle; the intricacies of the incredible work it does in grinding and mixing the perfect aromatic scents, elevates any dish with a limitless potential.
The mortar and pestle have been used since the ancient days, in preparing ingredients by “crushing and grinding” them into a fine powder or paste. These instruments are used worldwide for cooking, where Italians create pestos, Latinos make their salsa and guacamole, and those in Asian nations mix their treasury of ingredients to create perfect dishes, as well as many other nations.
There are different elements used to make a mortar and pestle, most of which are granite, hard stone, wood, metal, and ceramic. The one we have in our home is granite, which is used to make salsas, pestos, guacamole, dry rubs and more.
As British Chef Jaime Oliver says, the mortar and pestle give you “MEGA FLAVOR.” He has an excellent tutorial video on how to use the instruments and shows the two main things you do is “bashing” and “muddling,” otherwise known as crushing and grinding.
This ancient process opens up the cells within the different seasonings, herbs and spices, so that the truest form of the aromas dance together in perfect harmony, creating delectable dishes that swim within the neurons of the brain for lasting memories of special food and fellowship.
As we look at this process we can see the elements of the true self-image within each of us; we were created to be an aroma, a fragrance. The problem though, is many people do not realize who they are, and as a result continue to have the hard shell exterior, shielding the aroma of the authentic self from coming out. They are uncertain and afraid of who they might be.
The crushing and grinding, remove the hardness of the exterior, breaking down deep within the cell of any ingredient, in order to release something that could not be otherwise discerned. For example, if we take chili peppers and dice them, throwing them into a dish they will be good. However, if we take those same red chili peppers and place them in a mortar and pestle, through a process of bashing (crushing) and muddling (grinding), we will instead unlock a fragrance undetectable by the mere slicing.
Moreover, if we add to the red chili peppers, basil leaves with garlic cloves, white pepper corns, kosher salt, and extra virgin olive oil, then we have an amazing pesto that would be great on almost any dish, elevating the recipe to another level.
This type of ancient food processing is not for everyone; there is work and much time spent in getting the exact elements of flavor from ingredients, that can be used even as a foundational paste in several dishes. It seems like a lot of work for a small return, you might think. Not so; this type of cooking separates the true chefs from the commercial cookers. Time and thought are put into the service of a menu item, which is not for a moment, but rather a lifetime, making a memory that will be reminisced.
Do you remember certain dishes you have eaten in your life that had that extraordinary element way above others, leaving it unforgettable? That is what the mortar and pestle do, they store in the subconscious lasting memories.
Just like certain seasonings have an exterior that needs to be crushed in order to get to the good stuff, it is the same way with our self-image. Whether we know it or not, the tough exterior of our self-defense mechanisms need to be broken down to get to the really good part of WHO WE ARE!
It is so easy for us to judge one another by the exterior presentations we see. However, how many of us can look past the rough exterior and into the soul of another person, to see something phenomenal?
The crushing and grinding represent the hard times that we endure in life. Maybe it is a dis-ease, a divorce, marital problems, a loss of someone dear or a job lay-off. The pain of the circumstance causes us to be like the chili pepper inside of the mortar and pestle. In seeing this, you have to understand that it is only ONE dimension of who we are; we are so much more. We have a vast array of roles and incredible things about us.
We might feel we have nothing but a lot of issues and it makes us wonder if we will ever become a better person.
Therefore, when we look at our other issues its no different than adding one ingredient after another. After the red chili peppers, we add the garlic, then the white peppercorn and basil, and finally my favorite, THE OLIVE OIL! All of these ingredients, once processed through a crushing and a grinding, causes us to become something we otherwise would not have become.
It takes the grinding and crushing process, to reveal what has always been hidden inside the self-image, GLORY!
All I could think about when I saw this, the self-image revealed in the Mortar and Pestle, was the revealing of the glory that was always within Christ Jesus.
1 Who has believed (trusted in, relied upon, and clung to) our message [of that which was revealed to us]? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been disclosed?
2 For [the Servant of God] grew up before Him like a TENDER PLANT, and like a root out of dry ground; He has no form or comeliness [royal, kingly pomp], that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him.
3 He was despised and rejected and forsaken by men, a Man of sorrows and pains, and acquainted with grief and sickness; and like One from Whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we did not appreciate His worth or have any esteem for Him…..
10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief and made Him sick. When You and He make His life an offering for sin [and He has risen from the dead, in time to come], He shall see His [spiritual] offspring, He shall prolong His days, and the will and pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.
11 He shall see [the fruit] of the travail of His soul and be satisfied; by His knowledge of Himself [which He possesses and imparts to others] shall My [uncompromisingly] righteous One, My Servant, justify many and make many righteous (upright and in right standing with God), for He shall bear their iniquities and their guilt [with the consequences, says the Lord]. Isaiah 53:1-3, 10-11 AMPC
Jesus was compared to an HERB, a plant here. The fragrance of that herb was put into God’s mortar and pestle; Jesus was bruised, which in Hebrew means to crush.
Jesus already knew He was the Son of God, but oh my, HOW MUCH MORE DID HE KNOW THROUGH THE GRINDING AND CRUSHING? The process of the travail of His soul, brought a knowledge that satisfied Him, being a fragrance in the stench of the process of the Cross; the beauty of grace was revealed in the Self-Image of Christ!
What is being revealed in our self-image as we too feel bruised at times, wondering if we can make it through a process of being pounded by the pestle? Similar to hitting the different ingredients to bring about something we would not otherwise have known, we find that there is more to ourselves than we realize.
14 But thanks be to God, Who in Christ always leads us in triumph [as trophies of Christ’s victory] and through us spreads and makes evident the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere,
15 For we are the sweet fragrance of Christ [which exhales] unto God, [discernible alike] among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing:
16 To the latter it is an aroma [wafted] from death to death [a fatal odor, the smell of doom]; to the former it is an aroma from life to life [a vital fragrance, living and fresh]. And who is qualified (fit and sufficient) for these things? [Who is able for such a ministry? We?] 2 Corinthians 2:14-16 AMPC
Whether we know it or not we were created to bear the Image of God’s Glory! This comes as a result of the process of circumstances in life, which tend to overwhelm us. We are brought into the mortar and pestle process to comprehend the knowledge of Christ in us the Hope of Glory!
Know that your crushing and grinding, is bringing about a sweet fragrance, a taste of goodness and greatness. The rough exterior shell of self-defense that has been used to protect our self-image, is being removed, so that we know we can trust who we are in God, finding out ultimately WE ARE GOOD!