When you ask me what I consider comfort food, bananas and hardboiled eggs isn´t what comes to mind… but I think that I´ve recently moved them into that category. The other morning I was surprised at how much nostalgia entered my memory as each bite of my breakfast entered my mouth. After a few minutes, I realized that hardboiled eggs have a certain nostalgia of Sunday breakfasts in Greenville, and that bananas were a staple donation for several months during my candidacy. Since I hadn´t had either of them very often since arriving in Spain, I suddenly made the click. I realized that something as simple as hardboiled eggs and bananas had made their way into my little comfort zone, sealed in with good memories and a feeling of home. As I started off to leave for class that morning, I thanked Our Lord for his little gift to make me smile.
Moments like that haven´t been uncommon since I moved to a new country. I don´t notice them every day, but neither do they surprise me when they happen. Missing something that used to make me feel at home pinches my heart a little and makes me feel outside of my comfort zone. Most of the time from day to day, I´ve been slowly adding to a new comfort zone, so I don´t notice that I´m outside of my old one. Other times, I feel that little pinch. Those moments have helped me realize that it´s true that I do want to be comfortable, and that little things can do wonders to make me feel at home, secure, and settled. But they´ve also helped me realize that I want so much more than that in my life. I want to be happy. I want to make my life something beautiful. I want to love. I want to let myself be loved by Love Itself. To say that what I want in life is to be comfortable is cutting it SO SHORT. After all, I´m following Someone who came to this earth as a homeless person and died of crucifixion. I don´t think the desire that impelled His life project was reduced to comfort, either…yet he was the happiest man who ever lived. Guess there´s something to that.
