Notes from Columbus: 5/3/2005 Reverend Flake

Reverend Flake leads a church in Jamaica, with almost 20,000 members. He is also the president of Wilberforce University in Ohio (commuting weekly), and in his spare time(!) he writes books. He is a polished and dynamic speaker. Here are the words of wisdom he shared with us:

• Sometimes we don't think God has the power to lift us from our circumstances to do what he has called us to do. He grew up as a poor child picking cotton, and look at him now! How do we come to the realization of what God wants us to do? And how do we have the courage to do it?
  
• We need to trust that God will bless us if we follow his call.
  
• When we hide among the baggage we don't reach the capabilities God made us for. (I Sam 10:20-23). When God calls, stand up.
  
• People will come to a place where they are served.
  
• Don't let yourself be controlled by your fears. He had big dreams -- his church has built 161 homes, and over 600 senior citizen apartments.
  

Notes from Columbus: 5/3/2005 Rick Evans

How to lead healthy balanced ministry.

As part of the normal christian life, we should see healings. There will be different levels of anointing, but we should be seeing stuff.

There are 10 things that will help us to lead healthy balanced ministry times in the life of the church.

1. Believe in your heart that God wants to speak to you. The prophetic: God telling his secrets to his friends. We need to believe that God wants to speak through us. Jesus said "My sheep hear my voice"
   
2. Go beyond the obvious. Go beyond ministry by application. The sermon may be on a certain topic, but God may also be doing something else. Don't beg people to come up to satisfy the last teaching point.
   
   
   
   • Before the ministry time, prepare and listen.
     
   • When you arrive, look around and notice what God is doing.
     
   • During worship, look and sense what is going on.
     
   • During the teaching, also look around.
     
   • As you invite the Holy Spirit, don't be in a rush.
     
   
   
3. Commit to the activity of waiting on God. Learn what his voice sounds like in the quiet, so you can hear it in the noise. We want the giver, not just the gifts. In terms of hearing God's voice, we are always on a learning curve. It will grow over time as we are faithful.
   Ahead of ministry, listen and wait. Give God the opportunity and time to speak. (Rick shows up to conferences a day early and begins to walk. He brings a single piece of paper titled 'ministry time' and asks God to speak to him. God often tells him both the person's situation and what he wants to do or say. This builds faith, which leads to authority.)
   
4. Approach ministry times with authority. Be strong but not arrogant. Authority comes out of hearing what God wants to do. (If you didn't hear anything, still invite the Holy Spirit, but don't claim to know something if you didn't hear yet). Jesus has all authority and sends his disciples in his authority.
   
5. Two heads are better than one. Build a team. Benefit from collective gifting.
   
6. It's all in the packaging. This doesn't mean that you get slick, but don't scare people. Don't make people afraid you will point them out and reveal their sin. Give the word, but let them respond rather than singling them out.
   
7. Look for the signs of the Kingdom. The Lord may speak warnings to you. He may give you a sense of what's coming up. There are certain catalogs of images to become familiar with and notice -- a broken mirror may mean a woman hetes her image, for example. Look for the demonic. Look for the Holy Spirit.
   
8. Ask God for more anointing. And ask for your new marching orders.
   
9. Take time to stand in the waterfall. Receive.
   
10. Never give up!
    

Notes from Columbus: 5/3/2005 Rick Olmstead

• We can't be a 'bubble' church, separated from the world.
  
• We need to repent of the Jonah syndrome -- he didn't even want god to have compassion on the evil-doers.
  
• We have to love more than we hate--to love Moslems more than we hate Islam; to love abortionists more than we hate abortion;
  
• We need to be a refuge for the world, not from it.
  
• Non-Christians see us when we picket, they see what we are against, but they don't have a chance to see what we are for, so we need to welcome them in a very intentional way.
  
• Let's lower the drawbridge. We tend to make the narrow way too narrow. We need to reduce the cringe factor. To put it simply, don't be weird.
  
• God designed the court of the gentiles so non-believers had a place to come as seekers.
  
• We also need to make a way for them to belong before they believe.
  
• Realize that reaching the lost gets messy. It will cost money, people and atmosphere.
  
• We need to die to our preferences, to live for what God wants.
  
• We need to lay down our 'Vineyard Pride' and be willing to learn from those who are successfully catching fish.
  
• We need to contextualize the gospel to the people around us now.
  

Notes from Columbus: 5/2/2005 Gordon Fee

Gordon Fee is a seminary professor, and the author of numerous books, among them "How to Read the Bible for All It's Worth". He also worked on the latest Bible translation: Today's NIV.

Dr Fee spoke on God as King.

The king is intent on ruling over people who bear his character: I Cor 1:18-25.

Corinth was the center of activity in the Greco-Roman world, attracting people from all over the empire. It was wealthy, and worldly-wise, and full of vice. Even the believers in Corinth had subtly joined in to the Corinthian culture.

But God called it foolishness. While the people thought that they had 'arrived' spiritually, and were self-congratulatory, God called it foolishness.

God chose that we in our own wisdom could not come to know him. God did it by the foolishness and weakness of the cross.

The Bible tells us that the Jews demanded miraculous signs, while the Greeks sought wisdom. Both models demand that God behave according to their own human views. Both are in a sense idolatry. Our world still has those two views: those who demand miracles, and those who intellectualize.

While God is both all powerful and all knowing (and thus can answer calls for miracles or for intellect), we need to present the cross rather than trying to argue with people, as if we can somehow make God look good. A crucified messiah is an oxymoron. It was a scandal.

We can't earn God's favor. The cross says we can't buy salvation. We need to throw ourselves on God's mercy. And through the cross, we are loved out of our disobedience.

Notes from Columbus: 5/2/2005 Bert Waggoner

The opening speech was by Bert Waggoner, the national director of Vineyard USA:

The Vineyard is 25 years old, which is typically an institutional point of crisis.
Just like the Israelites after their journey from Egypt, we're standing at the edge of the river -- do we look back or do we enter the promised land?
It is time for us to join the Misseo Dei, the mission of God. What must we do to enter the land? There are three key things:
1) Reaffirm who we are: a movement, but not just a random, aimless movement, we are now a 21c movement, a kingdom of God movement. Our mission includes evangelism and social transformation.
2) Follow faith rather than fear.
3) Hungry after God, but not frightened of intellectual pursuit.

Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Job

Last night I taught a VLT class on Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Job.

There was a lot of energy in the room, spiced up with a little bit of spring fever, and some classic good humored attempts to fool the substitute teacher. But I did find myself grateful for some totally unrelated experiences which were suddenly standing me in good stead.

I had a flashback to an evening about 18 years ago, when I was babysitting the children of the pastor, and they were testing my limits by making up stories of how late they could go to bed. Nope, I didn't fall for it 18 years ago, and I didn't fall for the '45 minute break, and end at 9pm' ploy last night. Sorry guys.

Then I was reminded of the nursing home. After dealing with sleepers and the senile, a little bit of class rowdyness is totally not a problem for me. I've been heckled by a 90 year old demented woman in a wheelchair, so a little bit of whispering (and even some uncontrollable giggling) isn't a big deal.

And then we got to the topic at hand: Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Job. Normally you would think this would be rather heavy, but there were moments of levity. The class performed a skit based on the book of Job. Their natural sense of drama brought a whole new flavor to the book. Satan hid in the closet. Job's friends spoke with Hebrew, Yiddish, and Brooklyn accents (or something like that). Job protested at being unfairly accused.

I bet that when Steve Robbins gave us the assignment to write one-sentence summaries of the paragraphs in the book of Ephesians, he didn't realize what would happen if I tried the same exercise on the book of Job. Except it sort of turned out about a sentence per chapter, and inadvertently I ended up writing a skit. Of course, it loses all the grandeur of "where were you when I created the heavens and the earth", but gains in pungency. But it was really the accents that carried it. Thanks guys!

...and sell them to you

My friends know that I have a very literal mind. Rather than interpreting what is intended, I read what things actually say. This stands me in very good stead at work, where it allows me to notice ambiguities in business requirement documents. I can then get the documents corrected before the programmers (who also think literally) code what was asked for, rather than what was intended.

But in real life it's sometimes funny, and sometimes confusing, when I read what was stated, rather than what was meant.

"Police do not park here". But everyone else does?

"Stop smoking here". To me it sounds like its a command to not smoke here. But then I realized it was an invitation to join a program.

Sometimes it happens verbally too. The other day I was in a store and a woman came up to the cashier carrying a case of Poland Spring water. She proudly showed it to a friend, boasting about the good price, and commenting on how much her kids like it. "They drink it like it's water". Lady, it IS water!

But my all time favorite was a sign on the wall of a peach farm out East. The sign described in great detail all the steps from tree to market, and why the peaches were unusually good. After detailing the hand picking and sorting, it ended: "...we pick out the bad ones and sell them to you."

strange bedfellows

In these days following the death of the Pope, I've been interested to read about his many accomplishments. I'm most impressed by the ability he showed to inspire passion in the youth, and in his demonstrated desire for unity -- shown especially in his efforts towards reconciliation with Eastern Orthodox Christians, and with Judaism.

Beliefnet (an odd, eclectic website honoring various types of spirituality as diverse as Paganism and Zoroastrianism) has an article compiling statements from various world leaders and groups, concerning their reaction to the death of the pope. Amazingly diverse people had uniformly glowing responses to the life of John Paul II.

The two people I noticed who damned with faint praise have probably never appeared side-by-side in print before this very sentence. Are you ready? Representatives from Catholics for Free Choice, and the Taliban. Strange bedfellows indeed.

My main reason for visiting Beliefnet is that they have some funny (clean) religious jokes. They also have some catchy questionnaires, which are a little addicting until you realize that they aren't really that good. Either that or I'm in the wrong church -- all this time I thought I belonged in the Vineyard, and now I'm told that my beliefs match 100% to Orthodox Quaker, instead.

For such a time as this...

Sunday I felt sort of like Queen Esther. A situation came up with the oddest sequence of circumstances, and I realized anew how God uses the most implausible events in our lives.

Did you read the blog from two weeks ago, about the nursing home resident for whom 'S' prayed? He said he regained some of his hearing. So I was eager to see him again and find out how he was. At the end of the service I rushed over to him and said,
"Hi, 'H', how are you doing?"
I was distressed to find out that I couldn't understand a word he said. He spoke on and on, and it was just gibberish. I was afraid that he had had a stroke, yet it seemed too effortless for that to be the case. Eventually I had a suspicion, and I interrupted him to say:
"'H', are you speaking English?"
"No," He replied, "I'm speaking Russian"
"Speak English"
"You don't speak Russian?"
"No."
"Not at all?" He was clearly disappointed.
"Well, I know one sentence." I responded.
"Speak to me, speak to me!" He cried out.
(My one sentence was taught to me 22 years ago by a former co-worker from Kiev. I'm sure my pronunciation was bad, and I don't have the slightest clue how to spell it).
"Yahachu da moy" I attempted.
'H' roared with laughter and repeated "Yahachu da moy".
"Do you know what I said?" I questioned.
"You said - 'I want to go home!'" He exclaimed with glee. Then he turned suddenly serious and said, "I have prayed to God for years that he would send me someone who would speak Russian to me, and today you have come".
It wasn't until I was leaving that I noticed that one of the aides was Russian, and he was probably confusing me with her. But that wasn't the important thing.
I suddenly realized that if he was able to understand me parroting a sentence of Russian that I learned phonetically 22 years ago, he really could hear.

Lessons from John Paul II

The pope died this weekend. I figured that it would be appropriate to say something about this at the nursing home.

Towards the end of the service, I started talking about the lessons from his life, especially his work towards unity, for example his condemnation of anti-semitism. And then I spoke about his last days, and his reported serenity in the face of death. Usually, people sleep or chat while I'm speaking (it's a good lesson in humility). But suddenly you could have heard a pin drop, and people were really listening.

I asked them if they had that serenity. I asked if they wanted that serenity. I preached about the resurrection, and the truth that it is in the power of Jesus' resurrection that we gain eternal life. I offered a way to obtain that serenity. And finally, I led them in the sinner's prayer. I know that many times they repeat prayers just out of habit or obedience, but I was astounded at the groundswell of response. It seemed that the whole entire room was responding:

Father God, I'm sorry for my sins...

Wouldn't it be a nice epitaph for the Pope, if his example actually led them into the kingdom?

One Male Goat

What do these phrases have in common?

must wash his clothes, one male goat, uttered his oracle, bathe with water

These are the statistically improbable phrases that Amazon found in the Bible. They analyze how many times a phrase occurs in a particular book, compared to the rest of the books they have looked at. I would have expected something about worshipping the Lord, but from a mathematical point of view, the distinctive feature of the bible is one male goat.

I thought it would be fun to look at some other famous books and find their statistically improbably phrases (SIPs). Here is a test just for fun. Read the following lists, and guess what book they come from:

A) selfish attachments, three gunas, selfless action, supreme goal, karma yoga, selfless service

B) spunk water

C) cilice belt, lame saint, seeded womb, lettered dials, corporal mortification, rosewood box, sacred feminine, royal bloodline, stone cylinder, sweater pocket

D) green eggs

E) lemon verbena sachet, ter mek, right hyah, dey din, iron rampart, free darkies, dar ain, slanting green eyes, whut dey, pie wagon, barbecue tomorrow, bandage rolling, gwine ter, dat chile, carriage block, flapped the reins, weary load, ter git, cape jessamine, look lak, got ter, come ter

F) slop arm, reconstructed pioneer settlement, thump rod, relay barrel, thump barrel, middle sill, proof vial, two end logs, churn jar, cut lap joints, plug stick, heater box, dovetail notches, shaving horse, fer dinner, white whiskey, cap arm, fifty gallon barrel, steam moves, pure corn, wall logs

G) defeating temptation, life purpose statement, real fellowship, five purposes, fulfill your mission, local fellowship, your spiritual gifts, your shape

H) bookstall keeper, merry old gentleman, replied the girl, fat gentleman, latter gentleman

Now that you’ve tried to guess, here are the books that those phrases were from:

A) Bhagavad Gita
B) The adventures of Tom Sawyer
C) The Da Vinci Code
D) Green eggs and ham
E) Gone with the wind
F) The Foxfire Book : Hog Dressing, Log Cabin Building, Mountain Crafts and Foods, Planting by theSigns, Snake Lore, Hunting Tales, Faith Healing, Moonshining
G) The purpose driven life.
H) Oliver Twist

just an excuse for a picture

Sunset walk at Buena Vista 

Well, I wanted to try out the picture functionality, so this is just an excuse for a picture! But I'll tell you the story anyway.
Imagine a late afternoon walk in Costa Rica. Walking through the forest we were delighted to come across a family of howler monkeys. We weren't sure why the guide was urging us along, until suddenly the monkeys expressed their displeasure physically by peeing on us.

We were still laughing when suddenly the guide gestured us to stay back, and swung his tripod around to use as staff in front of him. He was dancing back and forth and we couldn't really see what was wrong. Once the path was cleared he confessed that there had been a very dangerous poisonous snake.

And a few steps further and we came out into this clearing, where we watched the sunset. It was especially sweet after the excitement of the hike

He can hear!

On Palm Sunday we visited the Nursing Home, to hold a special worship service and give out palms to the residents.
We also circulated through the building to give palms to the staff. There was a festive atmosphere -- by the time we left, the wheelchairs, counters and medication carts all seemed to sport a palm frond.
But the most exciting thing happened at the end. 'S' was trying to talk to a gentleman who was deaf, and they were both frustrated by the difficulty in communicating, and so she put her hand on his ear, and prayed that God would heal him. As she continued to talk to him, he cried out
"what did you do to me? I can hear!"
He was still partially deaf -- but was excited at the hearing that had been restored. And with tears in his eyes, he proclaimed
"it's a miracle."

Syncretism

We've been studying the prophets in VLI, and syncretism is a recurrent theme. The funny thing about syncretism is that the farther away you are the easier it is to see. But seeing it in our own culture is much harder, and seeing it in ourselves is the hardest yet.

I avoid horoscopes, but enjoy opening up Chinese fortune cookies and reading what is inside. In fact, for a long while I had a fortune taped to my computer monitor. It simply stated "someone is speaking well of you", and I had neatly written on it "speak louder". But if someone were to challenge me on why the cookies are OK and the horoscopes are not, I wouldn't have a good answer.

I heard an amusing line on the news this morning. The context was the brouhaha over the dress code for fire-fighters marching in today's St Patrick's Day parade. The particular issue was over the prohibition of wearing green beanies with their uniforms, apparently because the department is trying to regain respect after some scandals where fire-fighters engaged in various alcohol and sex escapades while on duty. Therefore the green beanie ban. I'm not clear on why they thought that would help, but maybe I'm naive. Anyway, the punchline was a heartfelt quote by a gentleman who publically proclaimed that the green beanie ban was "an offense to the faith". While I think the ban is silly, I don't quite see how it will tear down Christianity.

And then there was a friend who was upset at the behavior of fellow believers and who emotionally announced: "I'm just looking for the gospel. The gospel of Johnny Cash and Elvis".

Cross cultural life milestones

When you share the same culture with someone, it's easy to know how to respond to life milestones. But it's more complicated when they have a different culture. So I try to just respond naturally and hope it's ok. I'm always wondering how I can show the love of Jesus to my co-workers, and I'm afraid that I'll inadvertently do something rude.

Last week, 'R's wife had a baby. I was looking for 'S', so I marched into their shared office, and 'R' announced the news. He has a bit of an accent, so he had to say it 3 times before I understood. Then, in his effort to communicate he gestured to some Indian pastries on the counter and said 'that is why this'. I assumed they were to share so I picked one and took a bite. I have found that whenever I taste Indian food, my Indian colleagues stare at me intently. But this makes it hard to know whether they are staring because I am doing something wrong. Frankly, I'm still not sure whether the silver coating was intended to be eaten or not. It didn't really taste like a food product. To distract us all from the half pastry I was still holding in my hand, I asked what his daughter's name was. It was unfamiliar to me, so I asked what it meant and he told me it was the name of a goddess. I was overwhelmed with sadness for this little girl whose very sense of self would be connected with this goddess, but I didn't know what to say. So I finally just murmured that it was a pretty name.

And then there was 'P'. He came up to me, beaming, and announced that he was getting married. I congratulated him and reminded him that he had already told me. But after a bit of a confused interchange, I finally realized that he was differentiating between the fact that he had gotten engaged in February, but now he actually had a wedding date scheduled, for May. I was totally touched by the fact that he made a point of saying that I am the 2nd person in the U.S. that he had told, ahead of all his compatriots. He feels a connection to me. He is hungry to be wise, so I tell him stories about Biblical wisdom. He liked hearing about Solomon, for example.

I was still trying to figure out if it was an arranged marriage, but I wasn't sure if it was polite to ask. So I said, "have you known her a long time, or only just now". His answer was "not just now, I have been engaged since February". So I'm still confused. Then he mentioned that he is already feeling the responsibility that will come when he is a married man. He explained that in his country, you are expected to stay married and not get divorced, so it is a bigger responsibility than it is in the US. I was saddened to realize that he assumes the US is a Christian country, and assumes that fidelity is not a Christian value.

He will only be here for another 2 weeks, and then he returns to India. I need wisdom and discernment to be able to communicate to him something of the love of God.

Flash is fat. Barney is on bed-rest.

I've been doing a lot of praying lately, asking God to heal.

The people I've been praying for have not been getting healed. I realize that it's good to keep humble, but I hate praying again and again and not seeing results. And yet I feel that God wants me to pray, so I keep doing so.

It's not really accurate to say I'm not seeing results, it's merely that I'm not seeing results on people. But I've been doing better with animals. This is not exactly the spiritual gift I was asking for. And yet it is a blessing from God.

Remember Barney the Beagle? He was prescribed medication that was so expensive that his family was considering traveling to Canada to get a discounted prescription. Anyway, he did improve. And then when he had a relapse in Fall, and was hospitalized with pneumonia, I got a call asking me to pray. And God was gracious, and he recovered.

Last week, I visited Barney, because a planned dinner date with his family was re-located to keep him company, because he has hurt his neck and needs to stay in his crate for 6 weeks, to try to avoid re-injuring it. It's sort of the doggy version of bed rest.

While I was there, I mentioned that I needed to read my email when I got home, to check on the status of a cat I was praying for. Well, my hostess was eager to find out, and offered her computer. I logged in and found out that Flash's suspected abdominal tumor had been re-diagnosed as... fat.

My hostess was thrilled, and wanted to cooperate in getting the same results for Barney. So she asked if I needed a photo of him for the prayer to work. I said I didn't need a photo, but that it was sometimes helpful to touch a person I was praying for. She asked whether it would work through the crate, and I assured her that it would. So before I left, I sat on the floor and reached into the crate and laid hands on Barney, and asked for God's healing.

So now I need all my friends to also pray for Barney! [That's you guys.] His family is beginning to believe in this prayer thing, and I think we're finally at the point where they will ask me if they need healing for themselves, not just for their dog.

So while you are praying for Barney, please also pray that God will stir up and expand the gift of healing in myself and in our Church, and that we will see more and more people healed, in the name of Jesus.

Bhagdad Burning excerpts from 2003

I want to share a few fragments from an Iraqi blog. This isn't my own writing. My point in highlighting this is not politics, rather it puts a human face on events on the other side of the world. Someone we can be praying for.

Excerpts from Bhagdad Burning blog by Riverbend (an Iraqi woman living in Bhagdad).

August 6, 2003
"For me, April 9 was a blur of faces distorted with fear, horror and tears. All over Baghdad you could hear shelling, explosions, clashes, fighter planes, the dreaded Apaches and the horrifying tanks heaving down streets and highways. Whether you loved Saddam or hated him, Baghdad tore you to pieces. Baghdad was burning. Baghdad was exploding… Baghdad was falling. April 9 is the American Occupation Day. I can understand why Bush was celebrating- I can’t understand how anyone who values independence would celebrate it."

Aug 22, 2003
"This war started out a war on WMD. When those were not found, and proof was flimsy at best, it turned suddenly into a “War against Terrorism”. When links couldn’t be made to Al-Qaeda or Osama Bin Laden ...it turned into a “Liberation”. Call it whatever you want- to me it’s an occupation."

August 23, 2003
"Before the occupation, I more or less dressed the way I wanted to. I lived in jeans and cotton pants and comfortable shirts. Now, I don’t dare leave the house in pants. A long skirt and loose shirt (preferably with long sleeves) has become necessary. A girl wearing jeans risks being attacked, abducted or insulted by fundamentalists who have been… liberated!"

"Before the war, around 50% of the college students were females, and over 50% of the working force was composed of women. Not so anymore. We are seeing an increase of fundamentalism in Iraq which is terrifying. "

Aug 28, 2003
"instead of bringing in thousands of foreign companies that are going to want billions of dollars, why aren’t the Iraqi engineers, electricians and laborers being taken advantage of? Thousands of people who have no work would love to be able to rebuild Iraq… no one is being given a chance. "

Baghdad Burning

Baghdad Burning is the title of a blog that I've recently noticed.

It gives a very different picture of the war in Iraq. It's written by an Iraqi, but she is an ordinary, college educated, computer professional, non-extremist, jeans-wearing, English speaking woman. Someone I can identify with. Someone whose story makes me cry.

We don't hear about people like her on the news. We may talk about democracy and liberation, but that is not what she is experiencing. She may be faceless and anonymous (due to security reasons), but with her blog, she is not voiceless.

Maybe instead of praying about the political slogans and sound bites, we should be praying for real people, in their real situation. She calls herself Riverbend. Lets pray for her.

Technical note - comments

I'm switching my 'comment' functionality.

This means three things to you:
1) you will see two 'comment' links instead of one for a while.
2) you should use the 'new comments' link, on the bottom left of each post, to enter any comments from now on. Choose the 'other' button to enter your name.
3) the 'old' comments will go away eventually (as soon as I'm sure the new comments are working).

You can skip this part unless you are a techie...
I had been using Haloscan, which was working perfectly fine. But as I have learned, using an independent commenting function puts you at their mercy, and they can pull the plug at any time. Ironically, the better they are, the more likely they are to fold, since their volunteer business grows to big for them to manage. So I'm switching to the commenting function that is now offered through Blogger. That way, the blog and the comments are managed by the same people. It also has an easier way to delete comments, which hasn't been necessary so far, but could be convenient if anyone entered something inappropriate.

Foods of Provence

A co-worker is about to go to Provence on vacation, and I was eagerly telling her all my ideas of what to see and do there. I re-read my journal from my trip and found an interesting theme. Every location was punctuated with a description of the food that I ate. Provencal food is not the same as the haute cuisine that we imagine, when we think of French food. Rather, it is good country cooking with an abundance of seasonal items, a plethora of olive oil and garlic, and a pervasive assortment of local herbs.

Here was my journal entry from a dinner at La Cour de Rohan, in Aix:

We all insisted we weren't hungry, but ended up splitting a wonderful meal. Goat cheese omelet and salad; canteloupe; lobster tail; eggplant tapenade; seafood soup; ham; pate; spinach pie, and peach tart. I ordered hot chocolate and it was out of this world -- thick and dark. Nirvana in a cup.

And here are some other memorable foods from Provence:
Banon – a white cheese
Bourride – just as tasty but less annoying than bouillabaisse, which has enough bones for an entire village
Pastis – an anise flavored liquor, the french version of raki or ouzo. For sipping, not drinking
Vin de noix – slightly syrupy strong red wine, flavored with walnuts. Marvelous and aromatic.
Fougasse --bread made with olive oil and various other ingredients such as olives, anchovies or cheese
Soup with pistou – the French version of minestrone with pesto on top
herbal desserts. For example, we had thyme sorbet and lavender ice cream. It’s worth it just for the experience! Although the lavender ice cream was an interesting example of how the subconscious works. I kept wondering why it tasted soapy, and finally realized that it didn't, but my mind was merely associating lavender with soap.
Provencal wine – it’s generally not well known, and is not considered as good as the other regions, but you might as well drink the local wine when you are there. I liked especially a local blend of Syrah and Genache.
Candy – I forget what it is called, but Aix has a delicious nutty nougat. Also, the supermarkets and department stores have lovely little hard candies in tiny tins, with unusual flavors – anise, lavender, etc.
Salad - my favorite was the salad at the goat farm. Mixed greens with walnuts and raisins and thin crispy apple slices, served with a dressing of olive oil and walnut oil and lemon juice. And of course, goat cheese made in the little 'factory' next door. After seeing the worker plunge his arms up to the elbow into the vat to scoop out the curds, we made sure to drink the wine at lunch for its antiseptic properties.
Cassoulet. Well, it's not specifically Provencal, but it's a hearty delicious, distinctive casserole. Best to share one -- it is richer than we are used to.

It is curious that I love to try so many foods, considering the fact that I score a zero in risk-taking generally. What my friends really have trouble understanding is that I love trying different foods even if I don't especially like them. Which really helped me in the jalapeno donut episode mentioned earlier!