Traveling Journal: Costa Rica (Part 4)

On the last day of our trip we were staying in San Jose and went to an artisanal chocolate shop called “La Casa del Cacao” and learned how to make chocolate.

We learned that our ancestors called chocolate “Comida de los Dioses” (the food of gods).

After harvesting the cocoa beans they are then fermented and dried to develop their unique flavor.

The beans are then roasted to bring out that flavor.

The roasted beans are then shelled and turned into “nibs” which is the inner part of the shell used to make chocolate.

The “nibs” are then ground to make a smooth paste. This process can take hours and hours to get a smooth glossy texture.

The chocolate then is mixed with sugar, cocoa butter, milk and other ingredients to make the chocolate that we know and love.

It was all very fascinating and actually my favorite part of the trip.

The whole process brought to mind two passages… Jeremiah 18:1-6 and Isaiah 64:8

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ² “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” ³ So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel.⁴ But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

⁵ Then the word of the Lord came to me. ⁶ He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel.

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Yet you, Lord, are our Father.
We are the clay, you are the potter;
we are all the work of your hand.

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Now, I know that making chocolate and making pottery are not the same, but that is what came to mind when he was telling us about the process.

Each process has a process where the thing at hand is broken down and remade to be made into something new. In each process the raw materials are being molded and shaped into something more useful.

I encourage you to take a few minutes and look up a YouTube video either on the process of pottery making or chocolate making and see how it is done. What overlap do you see with your own spiritual journey? In what ways have you been left to ferment or roasted? In what ways have you been ground down? What things has God mixed in your life to bring out the flavor of your life? You get the point.

My final word to you is simply this… “Trust the process.” God has a process that he is taking you through. Trust the process of God.

Be blessed,

Paul