(A riff on C.S. Lewis’ parable in the book, The Four Loves:)
Imagine that you traveled to another country to spend a few days of much needed rest and relaxation. You had planned the trip for months, researching the “I HAVE to see that!” kind of places and making sure to take in all that you could of what is unique about the country.
Since you want to experience how the local people live, you decide one night to visit the most popular show in the country, Das Oodfa Ewa Orshipwa. You are amazed you got tickets because the show sells out every evening!
As you take your seat and the lights go down you notice that the theater is full. Not an empty seat in the building. There is a buzz of contagious excitement in the room that moves you and you notice everyone’s attention is focused on the stage in front of them with anxious expectation.
The lights dim. The curtains open at the front of the house. And, one bright light illuminates something in the center of the platform: a table with a covered dish on it.
When the well dressed man walks from behind the curtain towards the covered dish He slowly, patiently, takes the cover off of the dish, revealing a plate of pork chops, mashed potatoes, and green beans. You hear people gasp and then see them faint. Others (who are normally obnoxiously proper) try to run up to the stage before they are stopped by security. Many stare in stunned silence with a glistening of drool falling from their mouth, without shame.
You get up quietly, confused at the scene…but you are the only one who tries to leave. There is a sacred hush in the room as you make your way out.
You wonder to yourself as you walk out into the night air, “What’s wrong with these people?” And then, immediately think, “The way they think about food is all messed up.”
And, like Mr. Lewis finished his tale in the book: “And would not anyone who had grown up in a different world think there was something equally queer about the state of the sex instinct among us?”