Baptists, Orthodox, and lemon pound cake

"It's hard to hold a proper Southern Baptist dinner on the grounds without someone bringing a lemon pound cake..."

After an introductory sentence like that one, I was hooked. In this article, syndicated columnist and Orthodox Christian Terry Mattingly reviews a new book by Fr. John Finley entitled, Sacred Meals: From our Family Table.

According to Mattingly's review, "it's a book about cooking, of course, but it's also a memoir about the ties that bind his past as a Southern Baptist preacher's kid to his adult life as an Eastern Orthodox priest, composer and evangelist in Southern California."

Throughout the book, Fr. Finley relies upon the insights of Fr. Alexander Schmemann, of blessd memory, who observed that "Centuries of secularism have failed to transform eating into something strictly utilitarian... A meal is still a rite -- the last 'natural sacrament' of family and friendship, of life that is more than 'eating' and 'drinking.' To eat is still something more than to maintain bodily functions. People may not understand what that 'something more' is, but they nevertheless desire to celebrate it."

Add Sacred Meals: From our Family Table to your summer reading list!