Baking pies in God’s presence

“Many years ago, I was present at a monthly meeting for business seeking to discern whether to hold worship on Thanksgiving morning. Thinking of all the work I would be facing that morning, my contribution to the discussion was, ‘You all can go ahead and worship Thanksgiving morning, but I will be home baking pies.’ As soon as the words left my mouth, I felt humiliated. How could I make such an unworshipful comment? Wouldn’t Friends think me a bad Quaker for prioritizing pies over worship? After the business meeting, many Friends responded to my comment. To my surprise, none scolded me. Instead, many seemed astonished that anyone knew how to bake homemade pies anymore. Reverently, they said, ‘You bake pies?’ 

I love to bake pies, rolling out the crust, arranging the filling, crimping the edges. Is anything more fragrant than the aroma of a pie in the oven? Last autumn when New Hampshire apples were fresh from the orchards, my 97-year-old mother and I baked a pie together. As I rolled out the dough and she peeled and cored the apples, I was filled with a sense of overwhelming gratitude. God was present right there in the kitchen as we performed these ordinary tasks. I felt grateful for the apples and the crisp fall day. I was grateful to have my mother still.  Most of all, I was grateful for the overwhelming awareness of God’s presence. Then I remembered the business meeting so many years before, and I decided to revise my definition of Thanksgiving worship. To go about our daily tasks in awareness of God’s presence with gratitude for everything, is this not Thanksgiving worship?”