Food sits close to our identities. We have our favorite dishes and our go-to meals for having company over. It’s one of the more obvious ways we can learn about cultures around the world. When we sit down to eat with others, we share information about ourselves even before we say a word.

My husband and I celebrated 13 years of marriage this year, and to this day one of our biggest fights was about spaghetti. It was early in our marriage, and — perhaps at no surprise to you — it wasn’t really about the noodles. It was about our unspoken expectations around meals and cooking. And the frustration that comes when something you just have always known to be correct is unknown to someone else.

We figured this out pretty quickly, but the memory continues to teach us. There is more than one way to make spaghetti. (I’ll let you figure that one out.) Believe it or not, my way isn’t the only way, and I need to be open to different ways of doing things.

Food and our rituals around it are a means to connect with each other, with our bodies and even with the divine.

I remember a friend of mine once saying, “Food is an important part of how I experience God.” She wasn’t talking about enjoying food in community with others. She was saying that experiencing the abundance of flavors God has put on this Earth leads her to feel more thankful and more connected to God.

In this issue, you’ll find articles about food and how it enriches our lives and faith. I recommend grabbing a beverage and a snack and savoring each page and recipe.