Life is Like an Onion...

Life is like an onion. You peel it one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep.
Carl Sandberg

The chives from our kitchen herb planter are now growing and ready to snip, adding a last minute burst of flavor to whatever we are eating. In the garden, the onion sets have been planted. This year we have planted red and yellow onions, shallots and chives, all part of the grand tribe.

The onion tribe: chives, scallions, leeks, shallots, garlic, pearls, red, yellow and white onions. The grand and glorious onion is part of almost any main course, whether as a vegetable or a garnish.

The onion history: Chives (allium schoenoprasum) are the only in the allium genus native to the old and new world. Otherwise, the onion is an old world plant, documented to have been around for many thousands of years. It had been a symbol of eternity for the ancient Egyptians -- a sphere composed of multiple layers. Ancient Greek athletes ate massive quantities of onion to balance blood for sport or battle. Roman gladiators used onion as a rub to increase strength. Legend tell of chives used by Romanian gypsies in fortune telling.

The onion as remedy: Almost any ailment is thought to be cured by the onion by some culture in history. Through history it has been used to treat sore throat, headache, brittle bones, as a diuretic, an aphrodisiac, and much more.

The Onion Laws: Some crazy laws have been enacted regarding onions, though it is doubtful they are enforced. For example, in Nacogdoches, Texas young women may not eat raw onions after 6 p.m. See other onion laws: www.aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/plantanswers/onion/onionlaws.html

The onion metaphor is rich. Like Sandburg observes, the layers of the onion reveal the dimension and fullness of life, and the observation that, like the onion, the dimension and fullness and "layers" of life make you weep is so true. But more than that, the onion is part of the heart of the meal, offering full flavor to the most bland, or springlike garnish as an accent. In the Numbers verse below, we see that even the manna from heaven was without flavor. It was the absence of the leek, the onions and the garlic that was lamented by the Israelites.

If our life is like an onion, how can we add that richness and fullness and flavor to all that surrounds us?

We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but the manna. Numbers 11:5-6