Last evening we attended a party celebrating a friend who marks one year of living and working in these United States. It was a grand time made only slightly sour by Michigan’s loss against the Hoosiers (the Who?siers), with their Hoosier-y circa last year-style UM winning season. The event was catered by a true professional whose caliber was foretold by the use of the words pate and liver in the same sentence. I was intrigued but ended up going for the skewered poultry.

The host mentioned that the cheesecake was a flavor that could not quite be identified — “is it coconut or lemon or banana we’re not sure but it’s really good so try some” — and that was all I needed to hear. I ate a piece, noting the fine cookie crust and that it wasn’t a liver pate filling. With that came my rejoicing, like a Hoosier setting a couch on fire at a post-game frat party. So… I took some of the delicious pie, decked with a single blackberry on each slice, home to my family.

No, I didn’t stuff a piece in my pocket (forgot to wear my cargo pants). Rather, the host with the most — the most cheesecake, mind you — offered some for me to take home. It’s sitting in my refrigerator now, hopefully not wondering why I didn’t put it back in the freezer. And I’m trying to decide whether to eat another piece tonight. All signs point to yes.

The most surprising thing of the evening, besides Michigan’s penultimate comeback in the second half, was the cheesecake — it wasn’t from some secret recipe concocted by the master chefs and bakers who provided all the other good grub. Rather, it came from Batavia, IL, which you may or may not know is one of the distribution centers for Aldi. When I saw the box — that it was from a store and not from the caterer — I was befuddled and slightly amazed.

I think there’s a lesson in this.

1. Value is contextual. Aldi is great, but not great like when professional caterers bring pate of anything. The pie’s presence amongst the excellence somehow made it even better.
2. When we assume the best, we tend to find the good. When we assume mediocrity or worse, we find little things that prove our assumption.
3. I can now report after several paragraphs and bites of cheesecake that the third slice isn’t quite as good as the first, though I’m not sure if that’s because I’m away from the swanky spread or if that I ate too much pie.
4. Cheesecake is a pie, but not all pies are cake. Discuss.

NOW — consider this: God sees supreme value in us, not only in our being created in His image, but also in redemption through Christ. God values us within the context of Himself, not our own situation. God knows the truth but assumes, or, perhaps more perfectly, enables us, to live a radically different life through faith in Christ. And, while I get tired of cheesecake, He somehow doesn’t get tired of me and my monotonous prayers that certainly lack self awareness and God-awareness. Yet, in love, He listens and responds. As for the mysteries of our naming of things, I guess cheese is somehow involved, perhaps to the point where the FDA wouldn’t let it be labeled as cake. Seems like somebody found a loophole.

Do you realize how much God values you?