Religious images on food

 

A deity is appearing somewhere in a lunchbox near you

THE SUN WAS SO HOT I could actually feel my head melting. I was about to lick an ice cream cone when my friend Lanie shouted: “Stop.” She grabbed my wrist and pulled it away from my mouth. “Your blob of ice cream looks like Buddha,” she said.

She was right. It DID look like a vanilla Buddha. The flattish blob at the bottom was his crossed legs, the middle blob was his body, and the small upper blob was his head. “What do we do with it?” I asked. “Can we sell it?”

This was a serious question. A massive influx of deities has arrived on planet earth.
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Just last week, the Virgin Mary appeared in the form of a stain on a griddle at Las Palmas Restaurant in Calexico, California. More than 100 people have come to gaze upon it, manager Brenda Martinez told the Imperial Valley Press.

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In Uttar Pradesh, India, the elephant-headed god Lord Ganesha appeared in the guise of a potato. The buyer, who had come extremely close to turning him into a quick snack of fried aloo gobi, instead transformed her home into a divine potato shrine, as one would.

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There have been two recent appearances of Jesus, both in Florida. He appeared on a chest x-ray in the town of Homestead in December and on a pancake in Port St. Lucie in November.

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For years, Muslims were left out of the whole “deity appears in gravy stain” tradition, since no images are allowed of founder Mohammed. However, that barrier seems to have been surmounted by people finding written words. Last year, a clever tree grew lines on its bark spelling Muhammad's name in Arabic, according to the man who found it in Skokie, Illinois. And in Orissa, India, a woman cut open an aubergine to find the seeds spelt the word Allah. The vegetable was installed in the mosque for people to pray to. (“O Most High Eggplant, hear the prayer of your humble servant.”)
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What strikes me as odd is the choice of venues. For example, if you were a deity and you wanted to re-appear on earth, why choose a food stain? One Australian guy sold on e-Bay a frying pan bearing a likeness of Jesus in burned, leftover lemon mustard cream sauce. Jesus was a smart guy. Food stains are not his style. And DEFINITELY not leftovers.

But the amazing fact is that there’s big bucks in divine foods. In 1994, an American woman named Diane Duyser noticed that the Virgin Mary had appeared in her kitchen in the form of a grilled cheese sandwich. (I am not making this up.) She kept the sandwich in a transparent box and sold it ten years later for US$28,000.

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But while grilled cheese sandwiches would normally be thought of as perishable items, cones bearing soft ice-cream are even more perishable. It was a hot day. I was hungry. I had queued a long time for that ice-cream. So I ate it.

“You just bit off Buddha’s head,” said Lanie, outraged. “You probably could have sold it on e-Bay for a fortune. AND you committed blasphemy.”

“Buddha was opposed to people craving riches,” I replied. “So I am just following his teaching.”

Then we noticed that all the ice creams being sold were Buddha-shaped. Hmm. A divine ice-cream machine. Now THAT has possibilities.

 

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Comments

[Chamin]

My question is "how come Virgin Mary appears on sandwiches while all these models, singers, business tycoons, porn stars etc. get to appear on high quality images on heavily accessed web sites?"

Something is definitely unfair about deities.

[Name changed to stop my wife laughing at me! :-)]

Nury! These deities are all fakes!

There's only one!

Me! :-)

[MikeHart]

Dear Nury, Surely you have not gone far enough! Surely there are enough wackbrains/religions who can hope to find/profit by religious images on food. One thinks of Cargo Cultists (airplanes on coconuts), Mormons (God surrounded by his many wives), Lubavitcher Jews (dredls on kosher chickens), Druids (Stonehenge-shaped power bars), Pantheists, Brittany Fans, Vampires...the list must be endless!

[The Blessed Virgin]

This is SO unfair. I used to always appear as a ghostly vision of a demure virgin and people paid lots of attention.

And then the marketing department said that was scary and old fashioned and remote, so we tried to think of something cute and un-threatening.

So for my latest incarnation I appeared as a grilled cheese sandwich. There's nothing more unthreatening and homely than that. And now you lot are all laughing at me!! Unfair.

[Julie]

Ooh, ooh. I want a menhir shaped power bar. Perhaps as eaten by Obelix?

But does anyone else think that the Virgin on this cheese sandwich actually looks more like the poster for Les Miserables?

[Labib Rahman]

Maybe you should lighten up on the mosque and eggplant part.

Suggesting that Muslims worship an eggplant is blasphemy since it is illegal for a Muslim to worship anyone besides Allah.

[yours truly]

Labib Sir,
Nury is just a simple reporter reporting a report of an event in far far away land called Orissa.

He is actually doing great service to report such blasphemy activities in secret code to people like you. You know Hong Kong is under China. The China big boss, do not like anyone reporting blasphemy. So, he can not just like that announce this blasphemy happen. Poor man really is our Nury !
One side, the China Boss take the stick and poke his bald head. Another side, you misunderstand him and make bad noise.
OK OK. So, let us now be friends. I give you idea. May be it work. May be it will not work. You know, I am just simple friend of our simple reporter Nury.

I say, you go to Orissa and make trouble with people in Orissa.

I know what you think. Even if throw stone from your home in Bangaladesh, it will not reach there. Such a strange and perpelxing problem for you. May be you can not sleep, wondering how this blasphemy can go un-tackled.

I suggest do not worry, please proceed to Orissa. From your country it is easy. Many people just walk across to become illegal immigrants in India. You can just join with them and walk to Orissa. You will reach there quickly.

But, I have one question Labib Sir. Why your people go as illegal immigrants to India. India also poor, Bangaladesh also poor. Both side poor and still millions from your contry run away to India. Is it because, Indian constitution allows freedom of religion, while yours does not ? Just my simple brain is Thinking and I get this question.

[Labib Rahman]

Very funny Nury. You overlooked one thing though. Just because I live in Bangladesh, doesn't mean I'm Bangladeshi. In fact I'm not. I'm one of those fat,obese Americans you criticize in your column. So, technically, it's not my people sneaking to India. Other people sneak into my country and I guess you now why.

I love your entries, but the improper grammar usage in your post was a little overdone. A guy whose diction and syntax is like that of yours truly above, would not use the words like perplexing or constitution. He would say 'hard thinking' and 'law of country'

But overall, the effect was great. Man it is so hard to kick out the inner writer just trying to correct errors, I found out the hard way, when a friend dared me to write an English Language like a grammar illiterate dunderhead.

Thanks, and yes Bangladesh does have religious freedom.

[Nury]

Dear Labib, thanks for your note. I didn't actually write the comment signed "yours truly" and I don't know who did. But I agree with you, his fake South Asian accent is a good try, albeit imperfect. But I am grateful to you for your sense of humor. I just had a read of your blog and enjoyed it. There's something charming about Bangladesh and I do hope to visit it one of these days before long. Best wishes

[yours truly]

oh ! Labib Sir, so it seems you are new to this mad place.
Welcome. Welcome to our humble blog.

Here, Nury is just one of the mad men, women and other such creatures existing to create total anarchy and disorders. We indulge most of the time doing blah, blah writing which many times can be termed as blashphemy.

by the by, is the latin root of "constitution" same as "constipation".

[MikeH]

This reminds me of bars that have signs posted reminding patrons (wonderful expression meaning drunks) that discussions about religion and politics are out of bounds (wonderful expression meaning "will get you tossed"). Labib, it's humour, give it up.

[Groucho]

Is this like the cartoonist who had a contract taken out on him? Or the film maker who got stabbed? Don't mess with the Sri Lankans Rahman, you are no doubt presently aware of what they are capable of when roused.

[angela]

Oh yes, I was in the same car with a Sri Lankan friend over the weekend when a group of us went on a tour to neighboring Malaysia. The moment he was roused from his slumber (our German friend who was the designated driver swerved to avoid an overtaking driver) our friend woke up and started telling jokes til we reached our destination which was like 2 hours drive. And I laughed so much I got hiccups that was only cured after eating durian. That's what Sri Lankans can do so beware.

[fardel]

My memory is playing tricks on me
Isn't Nury a Srilankan guru of some sort, with lots of followers/worshippers?

[Labib Rahman]

@MikeH: Alright I give up.
@fardel: No Nury is from Sri Lanka, I think both or one of his parents are Sri Lankan.

And I will be very careful of Sri Lankans from now on.

BTW, why are we stereotyping?

[april]

All of these things were not come from the true God.Remember satan can emitate the works of God and any other images,because he know God also he was an angel before.But only one that satan cannot do,"the love of God"Satan cannot overpower the living God,who is Jesus Christ.These are all idols.And God forbide idolatry.As God had said to Moses ant to the Israelites at the Mt.of Horeb out of firein Deteronomy 4:16-19,DO NOT BECOME CORRUPTAND MAE FOR YOURSELVES AN IDOL,AN IMAGE OF ANY SHAPE,WHETHER FORMED LIKE A MAN OR A WOMAN OR LIKE ANY ANIMAL ON EARTHOR ANY BIRD THAT FLIES IN THE AIR OR LIKE ANY CRAETURES THAT MOVES ALONG THE GROUND OR ANY FISH IN THE WATER BELOW.AND WHEN YOU LOOK UP TO THE SKY AND SEE THE SUN,THE MOON AND THE STARS ALL THE HEAVENLY ARRAY-DO NOT BE ENTICED IN BOWING DOWN TO THEM AND WORSHIPING THINGS THE LORD YOUR GOD HAS APPORTIONED TO ALL THE NATIONS UNER HEAVEN.deuteronomy 4:23-24,DO NOT MAKE FOR YOURSEVES AN IDOL IN THE FORM OF ANYTHING THE LORD YOUR GOD HAS FORBIDDEN.FOR THE LORD YOUR GOD IS A CONSMING FIRE,A JEALOUSE GOD.deut.6:13-15,FEAR THE LORD YOUR GOD,SERVE HIM ONLY AND TAKE YOUR OATHS IN HIS NAME.DO NOT FOLLOW OTHER GODS THE GODS OF PEOPLE AROUND YOU,FOR THE LORD YOUR GOD WHO IS AMONG YOU IS A JEALOUSE GOD AND HIS ANGER WILL BURN AGAINST YOU,AND HE WILL DESTROY YOU FROM THE FACE OF THE LAND.All the saints have no work for us.There's none written in the bible about those saints,that most of the people praising,worshiping,adoring,offering and etc.They cannot help us for our salvationThey cannot hear you,they wre already dead.we have only one God who died and had a resurrection and He is our LIVING GOD yesterday,today and forever,who is Jesus Christ.Its a big mistake that we are praying to the saints to help us to pray to the Lord.It was not written that we have to pray t the saints and the saints will pray for us to the Lord.Only to Jesus Christ we can directly to praybecause as He said,"I AM THE WAY,THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE,NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER EXCEPT THROUGH ME".People we to wake up open our eyes.e are now in the end time.Do you think all thesehappenings on earth today were just these happened,there is an author of these all and that is satan.And for who know and have read the bible have not amazed with things because it were written already.These happenings are the signs of God's second coming to take up the chosen one into His kingdom to heaven.After this the 7 years of tribulation will happen.People read the bible in the book of revelation so that you will knowthat i am telling the truth.And you will know what would be happen in the end time,and we are now in the end time.If you will not believe me,then i can say its like the time of Noah.No ones believed in Him.And all people died by flood.Now time to think to do things for your salvation.For Gods coming is so near.GOD BLESS US ALL.gd pm.

[He who shall remain nameless because his wife will laugh at him.]

Oh... I see the image now... I thought all that white stuff was mould!

But my original assertion remains...

Bow to me!

[Food Diary]

Looks like a big hoax to me... I bet she has a food diary of tricks like these. LOL