Last year September ended on a sad note for us: we had decided to put down our family dog Sharlie. She had been with us for 14 years. We got this sweet natured Beagle as a gift for our son Sidney on his fourth birthday. Even though she was supposed to have been his dog, she soon became very attached to my husband Kevin.
She lived a mostly happy life and loved running away, returning to us hours later smelling really bad after having rolled in all sorts of questionable things. Watching her sleep was hilarious, as she was running in her dreams, moving all four legs simultaneously. Each time I came home, she would welcome me by howling loudly and wagging her tail wildly. When told she was going to the vet, we would tell her that she was going to the "doggy hotel". Upon hearing this, she would run to the front door and try to push open the storm door with her snout. She loved going to the vet!
We had some fun times feeding her carrots and popcorn. These were the only two food items she ever begged for. Sharlie would sit by the table when we were eating carrots, looking at us longingly with two dark brown kohl-penciled eyes. Of course we could not resist. When she heard the first pop of popcorn popping in the microwave, she sat waiting in front of the microwave, until we removed the bag. Then the game of us trying to eat popcorn, all while tossing popcorn in various directions for her to find, would pursue.
After saying our last goodbyes last year, we came home with her body and buried her in our backyard. We decided not to get another dog. Raising a new puppy, or even adopting another dog would require too much work, too much commitment and too much patience.
But we could not stay without some kind of pet! I never would have considered calling my new found hobby of starting a sourdough from scratch a "pet". However, after starting my my first ever sourdough starter, I discovered that it does have many similarities to having a pet. First of it requires patience to wait for something to actually happen with this water and flour mixture. It needs to be fed daily. It needs to be checked on nearly hourly. During the first three to five days, the sourdough starter smells very bad. I learned that this is due to the good and bad bacteria battling it out. That reminded me of our Sharlie coming home after running away and giving off an offensive aroma...
The sourdough starter needs maintenance, just like a pet. It needs to be stirred, flour and water needs to be weighed, some of the mature starter is discarded, while a small amount of the mature starter is kept to make a new batch. The starter dough needs a home, some place safe, where is is undisturbed and kept at the same room temperature. Watching the starter bubble and grow, reminds me of watching Sharlie dreaming while asleep. The starter moves up in the jar and then sinks back to where it was before.
I did a lot of reading and research before getting this new "pet". YouTube video made it look so quick and easy! I finally enrolled in an online course with Udemy, so I could take care of the starter correctly - because the ultimate goal of this sourdough starter is to bake a delicious loaf of sourdough bread. So far I am on day 11 and it seems like I
still have a long road ahead. I took on this new hobby and thought it would be all fun and games. It reminds me of getting Sharlie for Sidney many years ago and thinking the same thing....
No, this is a long-term commitment. I have to be patient with my billions of microscopic pets. I have to observe how they react and adjust the amount of flour, water and the temperature to make my "pet" develop. Like when we got Sharlie and took her for obedience training and thus got to know her better, I am learning to be patient with the sourdough starter. I look at it and get to know it better.
When I was thinking about all these things today, I was wondering what the Bible has to say about yeast, because after all, sourdough starter is the most ancient type of yeast. I opened my Bible and looked up "yeast" in the concordance in the back. One of the parables told by Jesus in the books of Matthew (chapter 13) and Luke (chapter 13) struck me. He is comparing the kingdom of heaven to yeast mixed into a big batch of dough.
A little bit of yeast or sourdough starter goes a long way. You cannot see any difference in the dough you mix the yeast into at first. Then after a while, you will see that the size of the dough has increased and the whole batch will smell yeasty. In order for the bread to rise successfully, yeast is of utmost importance.
Jesus started his ministry on earth with a mere 12 men. After his resurrection on earth, his ascension into heaven, followed by the coming of the Holy Spirit, the growth of his ministry and his church multiplied exponentially. The coming of the kingdom of heaven changed people, just like when yeast added to flour and water changes the consistency of those elements. Even though the changes can take a while to observe, like with my new sourdough starter, the kingdom of heaven is indeed alive and growing!
It amazes me to think that the same God who created the Universe, also created the micro-organisms that are used to make a sourdough starter. What is even more amazing to realize, is, that he used plain old yeast, to describe the kingdom of heaven. And when I get impatient with my sourdough starter, I remember that this kingdom of heaven that I long for and that is unseen, has been growing for two-thousand years!
God bless until next time,
* P.S. I am currently looking for a name for my sourdough starter "pet". Suggestions are welcome!
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