By Nancy Oelklaus, Ed. D. 

Because we had a week-end guest, I bought the ingredients for a breakfast recipe that I haven’t used in years. The recipe is for Dutch Babies, or German pancakes. It calls for lemon zest to be sprinkled over the berries that top the dish.

Well, our week-end guest left at 6:30 a.m., and insisted the night before that we not get up, so we didn’t. Yet all of those ingredients were calling my name. So my husband and I decided to sleep in, skip church, and enjoy a quiet, delectable brunch together.

As I prepared the lemon zest, I experienced ZEST. It’s a word that had come to me last week in meditation—zest for life. Now I was experiencing that word’s second appearance in less than a week.

As I drew forth the shavings from the peel of the lemon, aroma burst forth, excitedly. The tiny pieces of lemon peel had a hard time landing in the bowl; they flew and danced across my counter top, making me giggle as I gathered them.

This recipe would be good without the lemon zest. But with it, the recipe is fantastic. I noticed the aliveness of the lemon flavor as I ate—how it awoke all of my senses!

And so it is with life. We can live it, checking off our lists of “ingredients” that are all quite good. But something is missing without the zest. Some of our senses are asleep

Zest—something that imparts a relish—a piquant [keen]quality that adds to the enjoyment of something.

Without zest, life may be good enough. With it, we are alive, responsive, alert, fully present to tiny gifts that make us giggle.

Zest for life

            Surrounds me with beauty

            Enfolds me with love

            Caresses me with prosperity

            Holds me in faith

            Sparkles me in joy

If your recipe for life is feeling a little dull, add zest. If you’re not sure how to do that, then just set an intention:  “This week, I add zest to my life.” Be alert to see it appear.