It's often said "You can't go back", and generally speaking, this is true. But every once in a while it happens, like an unexpected gift, where we seem to enter a time portal that propels us back to a place or experience from long ago and we are suddenly seeing, smelling, tasting, and experiencing the past right here in the present.
This happened to me Friday night. I grew up in a Catholic home and we were very involved in our local Catholic parish. I have wonderful memories of both religious and social events at the church, and most of our family friends were also members there. One of my favorite times of the year was Lent, especially the Friday night fish fries. The community center packed out with families devouring plates piled high with delicious crispy catfish, fried right there by the Knights of Columbus. There was laughter and music and kids running all over and lots of food.
Though I no longer attend a Catholic church, I occasionally visit events at my parents' parish and Friday night I accompanied them to their fish fry. I walked in and was suddenly ten years old again. Though it was a different church and unfamiliar faces, the laughter, music, and mounds of food, including slices of home-baked desserts, were just the same. We ate and talked and relaxed and ate more, our souls being nourished at the same time as our bodies. I was reluctant to leave at the end of the evening, but grateful for the reminder that as much as the world and our lives change, some things stay the same, most of God Himself. And, of course, that amazing Lenten catfish.
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