The Ramen Noodle Nation

Ramen Noodles are a very simple food. You open the packet, boil up the noodles in some water, add the flavouring, pour out the excess water and eat them.

They are a staple food for many college students who are either broke, busy or both. But it’s not just students who appreciate the simple beauty of these little packets of oriental greatness. I, too, am part of the Ramen Noodle Nation.

Each packet is like a trip to a slightly dodgy Chinese restaurant, except you can be eating your noodles is less time than it would take to even find a table, and each packet costs a tiny fraction of just the tip.

But there is an undercurrent of creativity that courses through the Ramen Noodle Nation. It seems there are many ways to make the humble noodle dish. Some simply follow the directions. Some use less water. Some make noodle soup. Some break the noodles up before cooking them (either vertically, horizontally, or both). Cook them in the microwave or a saucepan. Some even eat straight out of the packet, then follow up with a diet Coke.

I stumbled into this world of creative noodling one day when I accidentally threw away the pack before I meant to. Now the instructions were at the bottom of the kitchen tidy, and I couldn’t remember what I was supposed to do. I made a mistake which so improved the noodles, that I have done it ever since. I added the flavouring after I poured out the water.

Now my beef noodles had a strong, more manly taste.

I shared this secret with a friend who told me that he had been doing that for years, but had I tried adding an egg? I said no, I had not, could he show me how?

It turned out to be simple. When everything was otherwise finished, you just cracked an egg into the noodles and ate it all. I took this new recipe idea and decided to improve it by returning the noodles to the microwave for 45 seconds to cook the egg. Brilliant.

But then I began to think again. If you could use an egg, what else could be added to the golden noodles. My hands flew to the spice cabinet and fell upon the chilli flakes. They then hovered over the noodles, while my mind stuttered: how much should I use?

I settled on seven shakes of the chilli bottle, and as luck would have it, it was just about perfect. After a few days of testing this I also added a dash of olive oil and the recipe was complete.

Days passed in the smug recognition that I had created a true masterpiece. I thought this creation needed a name. I though hard. Then decided not to as it hurt a bit. Finally, I settled upon a name; Six Minute Noodles. Like most good names it needed little explanation, but it said it all.

Whenever I share my recipe, I find there is one of two responses. Bemused bafflement, or dawning happiness. Those outside the battlements of the Ramen Noodle Nation just don’t get it, but those true followers of the noodle take just seconds to recognise it’s innate greatness.

Six Minute Noodles fits all the criteria. It is fast, cheap, easy, and no-mess. And it tastes great. All the ingredients are found in just about every kitchen, and you use so little of everything that nobody really notices anything is missing until after the noodles are already gone.

You can’t really join the Ramen Noodle Nation. You are either in it or you are not. It doesn’t need a Facebook group, promotion or a budget. You can’t talk anyone into it, and you can’t talk anyone out of it. The RNN is an army of people who know that simplicity and truth are the foundation of all things great.

And the RNN is also a very secure group. We know that no one makes noodles exactly like another member does, and that’s a great thing. It’s all about creativity. However you make it, however you like it, that’s fine with us. Such is the power of the noodle.

In fact it says a lot about people in general. Despite the fact that most of us live in cities, towns or villages, we are all different. We are also creative. We all have our own ways, and we want to have room to express ourselves. That’s just fine, and how it is meant to be. We are creative, made by a creative God. He loves difference and spontaneity. He doesn’t want us all to be the same. But he does want us to belong.

He even has a nation. It is the Kingdom of God. No one will ever talk me out of it because I get it. His kingdom is where you can rely on things being simple and true. Taste and see.

Watch Over My Way

The other day I heard someone say that they were starting to believe in karma, an eastern philosophy which is (in part) about good being rewarded with good, and evil being rewarded with evil. Of course God Himself was the creator of this principle. He calls it justice, and the world runs on it.

In Psalm One, we read,
"For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish".

Call it justice, sowing and reaping, karma or any other name you choose, if we give things enough time, we will receive that which we deserve.

Every day I want to make sure that I am doing what I need to do so that God will watch over my way. The beginning of this same Psalm shows us exactly how to do it.

"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
or stand in the way of sinners,
or sit in the seat of mockers".

I can just see this guy's evil twin brother! He walks into a room where bad advice is given out freely, he stands there taking in what these people are saying about their exploits, then he sits down and joins in. It all seems very normal, even friendly. But it is so far from blessing and from God.

The man who is blessed has perfected the art of being in the world but not of it. He doesn't walk around being "hungry" because he is spiritually well fed. Have you ever walked past a bakery when you are hungry? Everything smells so good. It is always better to go to the supermarket when you have just eaten, or you may end up with a trolley full of stuff you don't even remember buying.

Same with our spiritual lives. Being full of the blessing of God is a great safeguard against swallowing spiritual "junk". For me, I see the things of God most clearly when I'm worshiping or praying. That's when I become spiritually filled up. Maybe that is why this bit of good advice appears at the very beginning of God's book of praise and worship. When your field of vision is full of Him, you are not easily drawn into life's junk-food aisle.

Be a daily worshiper, even if you don't think you sound good. When you go to church, try to get there in time for all the praise and worship. Be keen, and grab the opportunity as if it is the last time you will get to do this before meeting Him face to face. (It might be good to turn up in heaven knowing all of the words.)

Worship matters. It isn't the TV theme for church, that bit of music at the start that tells you the show is beginning but you haven't really missed anything yet. Praise is vital, it keeps us healthy and it blesses God.

So walk into His presence, stand before Him, and sit at His feet. God loves everybody, but He "watches over the way of the righteous".