Today my daughter-in-law brought me a container of ‘sick soup’ that she had made for three of her four children who yesterday came down with a bug. She thought it might help me in my recovery from a bug that I had contracted four days previously and with my immune system not being what it used to be she wanted to help. Well, the very idea of eating or drinking ‘sick soup’ was, to say the least not all that appealing. In fact, it was really ‘sick!’ Needless to say, the ‘sick soup’ was delicious as well as restorative, and this very thoughtful act was much better than it sounded at first. If only there were a kind of ‘sick soup’ that would help us recover from all the sins and illnesses of the world. Well metaphorically speak there is! Jesus in reply to the scribes of the Pharisee who questioned his eating with sinners and tax collectors affirmed that, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners” (Mark 2:17). The gospel call that Jesus makes is like ‘sick soup’ to those who partake of it; it is both delicious and restorative. It set men and women free from sin and restores them to their true humanity made in the image and likeness of God. To those who refuse to partake of it, it sounds unappealing and unpalatable, like ‘sick soup’ does when you hear about it for the first time.
Below is the recipe for ‘Sick Soup in case you are interested in trying it’:
2-inch fresh ginger
1-inch fresh turmeric
2-3 large cloves of garlic
1 handful of fresh coriander
2 spring onions
1 red chilli
1 litre of chicken broth
400 gm. coconut mill
30 gm. fresh lemon juice
2 tsp. coconut sugar
Sea salt to taste
Leftover cooked chicken