Pomme de Terre

I happened upon a meme the other day, a telling of a joke slapped over a stock photo, that said quite simply “Potatoes make French fries, chips, and vodka. It’s like the other vegetables aren’t even trying.” At a glance, potatoes are humble, starchy, brown things. I am aware that there are many different varieties of potatoes, including beautiful jewel potatoes in blues and purples, but if I ask most people to picture a potato, their brain will likely jump to the russet or Idaho brown varieties. They seem like they should be of very little value until they are transformed. Once transformed, they can become any number of wonderful things.

This Easter, you were reminded that it is a beautiful day and you are a new creation in Christ. Not only is Jesus risen, but you get to participate in the life created by his death and resurrection. What a glorious and wonderful thing. Admittedly, potatoes are not the first things I think of when I think of new life- we’ve got plants and geese for that. Instead, potatoes are about transformation. Most people do not eat raw potatoes. You always do something to them first.

There are at least ten ways to prepare potatoes. You can bake, boil, or fry them. You can serve them as hashbrowns, home fries, or potatoes bravas. You can make gnocchi, potato salad, or mashed potatoes. You can make vodka. There are lots of things that the humble, unassuming potato can and does become.

Looking at your own life, are you from humble origins? Were you destined for greatness from before your birth? Or are you like most of us, just sort of ordinary? What a gift to be ordinary. Imagine if your purpose had been set in stone from the beginning rather than being a journey of discovery of God’s love and purpose for your life full of adventure and transformation and witness. Be transformed by the love of Christ… you never know what you might become.

So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being! (2 Corinthians 5:17 NRSVUE)