This blog is material repurposed from my book, Guideposts and Godspeed for Your Journey. I am making it a Palm Sunday post at the start of Holy week because of its spiritual focus.
Has this ever happened to you? Where you attend a dinner event and missed out on some great appetizers because the servers were focused elsewhere in the room; or the appetizers were cold or half-cooked; or you over ate on appetizers and spoiled the main meal?
Have you ever, after appetizers, eaten the most wonderful meal you could ever imagine? A meal that made you forget there were appetizers! What if we knew ahead of time that the meal was going to be so spectacular? Would we have been upset at the lack of appetizers or if they were not so great? Would we have over-indulged on the appetizers such that we missed the main course?
Some of us are born into situations better than others and the appetizers are close at hand; some of us make mistakes and stand in the corner of the room where the appetizers never reach. Some of us physically don’t ‘measure up’ against others, making it tough to fight the crowd for appetizers. Life can be really unfair, or at least so it seems. But in reality, we are dealing with appetizers here. Did we get enough, did we get the tastier ones, did we get them right out of the kitchen?
About five years ago, I attended a funeral of a ‘Dad’ not much older than me who left behind 3 sons the age of my youngest daughter. I heard the familiar conversation that he died too young (He did!). In that same time period, I was impressed by the plight of a young man, born with cerebral palsy, being one of 
the most beloved students in the school. A young man who today has become an internet sensation on the strength of his abilities not disability. There are daily newscasts of young children dealing with life threatening illnesses and lives lost through natural disasters. Closer to home personally, I still reference the obituary of a college football teammate who passed away 20 years ago, at the too young age of 37, leaving behind a beautiful wife and three young daughters (Oh but for the grace of God go I).
Appetizer is a term used on many menus for ‘starter course.’ The word appetizer stems from the idea of stimulating the appetite. A fundamental purpose of appetizers is to keep hungry people fed until the main dish is served. They are often referred to as hors d’oeuvres. The French word hors d’ouvre translates to “outside the work”, meaning it’s not a part of the true meal.
In the United States we refer to the main course of the meal as the entrée (that is not the case elsewhere). The entrée is often the reason why we pick certain restaurants, it is the center piece of a meal prepared by our host and hostess. Whether it is a formal event where we dress in elegance or Sunday at Grandma’s house where we gather as an extended family, it is the main course of the meal that draws our attention.
The word entree also means entrance, but not just any entrance but ‘the right to enter or join a particular sphere or group.’ A special entrance. The culinary use of entrée began in the 18th-century. In those days a formal dinner would include several courses and an impressive array of side dishes. A secondary dish came immediately before the centerpiece of the meal and it was called the entrée, the entrance to the really important part of the meal. As dining habits have changed, meals have become simpler, and fewer courses are served. In the US, the course following the appetizer continues to be called the entrée.
Our resurrection and the life of the world to come, is the most wonderful meal ever – beyond our comprehension and imagination. So rich and nourishing, completely fulfilling our hunger. We know about this incredible meal ahead of time and yet we still worry about the appetizers. Some of us are gorging ourselves on appetizers such that we will miss the entrée. Some of us even refuse to share the appetizers, feeling the need to have the best and most.
The more we focus on the appetizers, the more we lose sight of what is coming next, the main meal. Let’s make sure we are prepared to come to that table with our hands clean and our hearts pure, ready to enter a gratifying province.
As we sit down for Easter Dinner this Sunday, look at the entrée be it a ham, roast, turkey, lamb or 
whatever your family celebrates with and reflect on the meal in front of us and how our entrée is waiting for us to enjoy.
Yes, let’s enjoy the appetizers that are a part of our life, staying spiritually nourished through the starter course. Better yet let’s pay attention to those around us during this time of appetizers; enjoying their company and prepare to relish the entrée.
