Bad Bruschetta Happens

I love bruschetta. It’s a refreshing appetizer or a light meal that tastes too good to be healthy (but it is). This particular bruschetta looks especially appealing, with tomatoes, garlic, and basil on toasted baguette slices – mmmmmm. But alas, this was NOT the bruschetta I had last weekend, when I was visiting my dear “life friend” Connie.

It was a “Girl’s Weekend,” an indulgence we allow ourselves once a year, if possible. There is always heart-to-heart sharing, great shopping, and fabulous food involved, and last weekend was no exception. We’d already enjoyed two wonderful meals out, and had decided on Italian Saturday night. The restaurant was low-key, with a well-deserved reputation for simply excellent food. We ordered chicken piccata entrees and bruschetta for our appetizer. The chicken was wonderful – fork tender with a buttery smooth lemon caper sauce – but the bruschetta left something to be desired.

It wouldn’t have been too bad, but the tomatoes could have been riper, the bread thinner, crisper… Still, I’m pretty easy to please. After all, it’s not like I had to actually make bruschetta, so I just shrugged it off and focused on my chicken piccata. But Connie, who eats out more often than I do, was thrown off by bad bruschetta. She mentioned it a couple of times over dinner, and when we were walking out to the car afterward, she referred to it again. By now, it was more than just bad bruschetta; it was the WORST bruschetta EVER.

Please understand: We were chuckling about it then, as I am now, because I know she’ll read this and chuckle, too. But even as we were laughing I turned to her and said, “Connie, BE FREE of the bad bruschetta!” She laughed and said, “I know … bad bruschetta happens.” (But she brought it up one more time the next day.)

At work I’m known for “releasing” people from the little things that nag at them and steal their joy … as if I could really do any such thing. But all the same, I’ll thrust the heel of my palm toward their foreheads and say, a la televangelist, “You are RELEASED from __________!”

Drama queen? Sure, but I’m usually halfway serious, trying to bring their awareness to this “thing,” whatever it is, that they’re obsessing about. We all do it, but sometimes we can’t see ourselves doing it as easily as we can see others. It’s the “Plank in Our Own Eye Syndrome.” And when I’m focused on some petty annoyance it can easily eclipse the blessings all around me, as well as the opportunities God gives me to serve Him.

In his letter to the church at Philippi, Paul wrote, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” ~ Philippians 4:8 (NIV)

That’s quite a challenge, especially when, in my human weakness, I’d rather wallow in the bad things that are going on in my life (or even the things that just aren’t going the way I think they should). But our thoughts determine so much of the way we live our lives, and I don’t want to waste time focusing on the negative … giving myself over to the bondage of the little things that have no eternal value or glorify Him.

So, when bad bruschetta happens … just let it go, and focus on the entrée. Or, "Keep the main thing, the main thing."