Deus caritas est – "God is love."

In my faith, God is a trinity of letters chosen to name the Almighty as Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

What is love? It is a one syllable word the Greeks described having as many branches as the number of letters within it: affection, friendship, eros and charity. Four limbs of emotions to climb on, swing through, fall into and sometimes, regretfully, to fall out of.

Christian philosopher and writer C.S Lewis, in his book The Four Loves, explored the vast topic of love in more detail than I will here. This lead up I hope forestalls confusion regarding the next sentence.

To make dinner is to make love. Or at least it should be. In the care with which we select the sustenance, the care in preparation and presentation, our undivided attention when we serve (or are served) we signal how much we care. Or not.

Let me share a simple technique that will improve your favorite recipe for the king of comfort food- the pot roast. It doesn’t matter if you braise, boil or crock pot the boulder of beef into tenderness. It doesn’t matter if your seasonings are simple salt and pepper, sophisticated French or spicy Mexican. Before you plunk the chunk of meat in the pot to simmer slowly- heat up the barbecue

and sear the outside of the meat on the grill. Then finish cooking as you normally do. When you serve this, you will experience the difference a simple loving detail can do to transform the ordinary in to the extraordinary. As architect Mies Van Der Rohe taught, “God is in the Details.”

• The Shield of the Trinity or Scutum Fidei, a traditional Christian visual symbol, was found on Wikipedia.
• Thank you to Gene Sasse for use of the photo of the barbecue.