Do you like leftovers? Some people view the uneaten or unfinished pieces of a meal as waste, but for others the leftovers are seen as better than the original portions. Chili, for example, tastes even better on the second day than it did on the first. Beyond just leftover food, sometimes life brings unfinished business or unexpected extensions. Instead of lamenting the leftovers, how can we cherish the lingering pieces?
Note about the image: This is the suitcase of leftovers, tucked behind the Christmas tree at my son’s house in DC, awaiting its final journey by train to our daughter’s home.
My Mysterious Mind
Christmas was very different than I expected this year. After months of anticipating a celebration in our home with both daughters and their families, only one daughter and family arrived, and that visit was delayed by three days from the original plan. In those empty days before her arrival, I grabbed the biggest suitcase I own and stuffed it with the presents our absent daughter and her family would have received. My husband and I adjusted our plans during a then-upcoming trip to the East Coast; after a few days with our son, we would travel by train from DC to have a “leftover Christmas” in Maryland before returning home. The massive suitcase of “leftover Christmas” would travel with us. The next-smaller sized suitcase would carry my clothes and fit inside the emptied “Christmas” suitcase for our return.
I repacked that huge suitcase before we traveled because I needed it to hold more than the original “leftover” contents. The daughter who came to visit brought gifts for her one-year-old niece, whose birthday we were going to celebrate during the combined time at our home. Also, during a visit to the family farm for a Christmas celebration, my sister gave gifts for our Maryland daughter and her children. Furthermore, on a pre-Christmas visit to my husband’s mother, we were entrusted with surprises for her great-grandchildren. Some went to our daughter and family who were able to visit; others had to fit into the enormous suitcase. After carefully unpacking and repacking the gigantic suitcase I was able to get “leftover Christmas” and “leftover birthday” inside. This required some strategic squishing.
Then I heard something from within the luggage. Two of the items were playing music due to the pressure of the suitcase contents on their little buttons. I unzipped the bag, and the guts oozed out. I turned off one of the items and reversed the batteries in the other. Silence. A final round of pressure on the baggage fillings, I successfully zipped the cover and declared victory.
It’s funny how strangers react when you are traveling with a humongous suitcase. A random woman at the DC baggage claim asked if I was moving to the area. The staff member who helped with the suitcase when we got off the train in Maryland felt compelled to remark and said, “Oh, that’s a big one!” But I digress.
My husband, the suitcase, and I finally made it to the absent daughter’s home for “leftover Christmas” and “leftover birthday.” We were there for two nights, celebrating Christmas on the first night and birthday the following afternoon. In 46 hours after arriving, we would be at the DC airport to start our return home, the contents of the leftovers delivered and enjoyed. We had more than the traditional twelve days of Christmas. For us, Christmas started on December 19th when we visited my mother-in-law and lasted until January 20th. I cherish the lingering pieces we savored a month after the first morsels of Christmas.
Message of Mystery Acres
There is no food stored at our property in the forest, unless you count some emergency snack mix in an upper cabinet, safely stored in a plastic tub. My husband and I have often stopped on our way at a Subway restaurant in a convenience store off the highway. I order two foot-long sandwiches, which provide at least two meals for us. For longer stays, we pack a cooler with food and turn on the refrigerator in the motorhome. Sometimes the cooler contains leftovers from our fridge at home. My food goal for our visits is to have few to no leftovers to bring back.
Once we arrive in the forest we try not to find reasons to have to run and get anything we need. It’s five miles back to the main highway and then several more to get to a restaurant or convenience store. If we forget something, we typically just try to do without it. One time, before we owned Mystery Acres, we were camping at a state park in the motorhome and realized neither of us had packed the hot dogs we had planned for one of our meals. Instead of driving all the way back out of the park to buy food, we just rearranged our meal plans with what we had with us. Thankfully, there were sufficient leftovers from one meal for another one. Rather than panicking at the forgotten hot dogs, we created a fond memory of using leftovers.
In addition to using leftover food, my husband and I have also utilized leftover materials in our cabin. The feature wall on the back of the cabin is covered in old barnwood. The floor is warmed by leftover carpet from a long-ago church redecorating. The cabinets of the motorhome are stocked with excess plates, pans, and other kitchen gear from our primary home. Two of the windows in the cabin are covered with curtains made from an unwanted shower curtain. On the porch, ready to be used for a picnic, is a plastic table and chairs, no longer wanted by a friend at her home. Leftover things can find new life at Mystery Acres.
The message of camping and of Mystery Acres is to cherish leftovers. In a spoiled culture where freshly prepared food is readily available, leftovers are often seen as inferior. I, on the other hand, love leftovers. Something I enjoyed once can be enjoyed again. Bonus!
Ancient Mystery’s Voice
Jesus said, “Gather up the leftover pieces that not anything be lost.” (See John 6:12)
There’s only one place in the Bible, in one translation, where the compound word “leftover” is used. As a combination of two words, i.e., left and over, there are multiple uses, several in the miraculous feeding of thousands of people. Two of these mass feedings are recorded in the four books, collectively referred to as the Gospels. One of these events is called The Feeding of the Five Thousand where five barley loaves and two small fish were distributed to the large gathering of people. John wrote that there were five thousand men gathered to listen to Jesus, a number that likely didn’t include the women and the children.
After everyone had enough to eat, Jesus directed His disciples to collect the leftovers. Twelve disciples, each with a basket, gathered the leftover food. What started with a miniscule amount resulted in thousands being fed and a substantial reserve for later. Jesus, who had converted the tiny quantity of food into an abundance, didn’t say, “Don’t worry about collecting the leftovers. I’ll just do another miracle later if we need more food.” Nope. He told the disciples to gather the fragments so that nothing would be wasted.
I suspect Jesus wanted the leftovers gathered to demonstrate the miracle to His followers, but the reason He gave for the collection of uneaten food was so that there would not be anything lost. Beyond this incredible frugality (which I and my mother can applaud), there is likely a deeper message Jesus intended for us.
Some of the translations state the reason for collecting the leftovers as “so that nothing is wasted.” But the original Greek is more closely translated as “not anything be lost.” The word “lost” connects to other stories Jesus told, such as the lost sheep, the lost coin, or the prodigal son. In those teaching stories, or parables, what was lost compelled a passionate longing for restoration. The shepherd leaves the 99 to search for the one lost sheep. The woman sweeps her house to search for the one lost coin. The father of the lost son runs to meet him on the road home, then throws a huge party.
The words of Ancient Mystery show a loving attitude towards leftovers. The lingering pieces, separated from the original source, are diligently sought and gathered. The leftover food in the story of the massive feeding is a metaphor for people. Jesus directs his followers to gather the scattered pieces so that nothing is lost, so that no one is lost.
Living in Mystery
What does it mean to live in the mystery of leftovers and to cherish the lingering pieces? First, it means recognizing the value of leftovers, the fragments not wanted now, that could be useful or enjoyed later. We live in a time of abundance, where tons of useful, but unwanted stuff is thrown carelessly into landfills. I recently watched a documentary on Netflix called “Buy Now!” The horrible amount of waste from our consumer-oriented culture was grotesque to me. Raised to be respectful of the possible use of leftover food and other items, I was sickened by the mountains of brand-new, unsold merchandise thrown away by retail giants. I’ll leave it to you to watch the entire piece, which ended with the directive to “Buy Less.” Reuse, repair, or repurpose what you already have instead of embracing a “just throw it away if you don’t want it” mindset.
As an old mom to young parents, I’d like to share a strategy I used to get my children to enjoy eating leftovers. It’s called “Mom’s Restaurant,” and my oldest daughter has used it with her children. I set out all the leftovers on the kitchen counter and created a menu. There were categories for “Main Course,” “Sides,” “Beverage,” and “Dessert.” For each section I provided directions such as “Choose One” or “Choose Two.” The children sat at the bar or some other location different than their usual seats, and I acted like a waitress. Using a pad of paper I took their orders. You get the idea. My children loved it; and I enjoyed using up the leftovers from the fridge without their complaints.
Lastly, ponder the fact that Jesus is a fan of leftovers. To Him, there are no throw-away people. If you are feeling like a lost, discarded piece, know that Jesus longs to gather you into His basket, not wanting you to remain lost. For those already safe within His basket, He directs you to gather the left-over pieces so that no one is overlooked. If you are one of the safe ones, heed the voice of Jesus to “gather the leftover people so that no one is lost.”
Leftovers matter. At least as important as the pieces in the original, the fragments of lingering parts are to be cherished, not discarded. Throwing away potentially useful things or people with unused potential is lousy stewardship. What is in your suitcase of leftovers? Perhaps it’s time to get moving on the journey and to make good use of those leftovers or deliver the fragments to those who will.
Connecting with Mystery
Dear Lord of All Mystery, I confess to sometimes being wasteful with things and relationships. Help me to be a better steward of the people and stuff you have brought into my life. Fill my heart with Jesus’s directive to “Collect the leftovers so that nothing is lost,” and especially apply that view to the people in this world at risk of being thrown away. Thank You for considering me important enough to gather up into the basket of the ones You love. Amen.
Notes from Dr. Mac
If you want to do your own investigation of any of the scriptures I use, I suggest you go to Bible Gateway. This free online version of the Bible allows a search of words or phrases in various translations. I suggest you ponder the full story of the feeding of the five thousand, found in the 6th chapter of the book of John.
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