Kings Buffet

Last night my son treated us to dinner at a Chinese buffet-style restaurant called King Buffet. In honor of Fathers Day, the restaurant had expanded their usually abundant menu with specials that included, among other dishes, fresh snow crab, lobster, crispy duck, and prime rib.

Every dining room in the sprawling establishment was filled to capacity but we managed to get a table. My young bachelor son, no stranger to these economical feasts, counseled us on how to get our "money's worth". It sounded like gluttony to me, especially after his six plates of food rendered him immobile.

I ate discriminatingly. I remembered the wise words of my sister Dorothea when we dined together at an expensive restaurant on the Bahamas recently. "Cheap restaurants fill you up with starches," she said. "Expensive restaurants serve the better proteins and vegetables."

I found this to be true. I really enjoyed my grilled mahi mahi, asparagus, greens, and couscous on the Bahamas. Back home at a "country-style/family-style" restaurant, I filled up too quickly on breaded catfish and French fries, then watched with aching belly as my brother forked in dumplings and macaroni-and-cheese.

At King Buffet last night, I ate only those fine things that I wouldn't normally see on a menu or be able to afford. Mostly, I selected all the good, fresh, unbreaded shellfish. Yes, even raw clams! My favorite was the ginger lobster. Wow! Better even than we had in the fine restaurants on the Bahamas. I also ate a cup of Won Ton soup, some tasty, crisp green beans, a stick of barbecued chicken, a sampling of beef-something, and even a fried dumpling and a slice of watermelon. Afterward, I didn't walk out feeling stuffed and sick. I felt highly satisfied, energized, full of good things.

The meal reminded me of another King's buffet--the Word of God, King of Kings. The Bible compares the Word of God to good food: milk, meat, bread, apples, honey. It contains everything a hungry soul could ever want. And unlike the heavy confusion of mind I used to get after feeding on the the starch of other so-called "spiritual" books, whenever I read the Bible or hear it preached, my spirit comes away feeling highly satisfied, energized, and full of good things too.