When I was kid growing up, I thought I knew what a feast was. In my 8-year-old mind, a feast was one of two possibilities. First, a feast was what happened on Thanksgiving when I could pile as much turkey and mashed potatoes as humanly possible on a single plate. Advanced Thanksgiving plate construction carefully avoided any yams, any variation of cooked vegetables, or their poisonous contaminating “juices”, and/or soggy stuffing. This main course “feasting” a.k.a. food inhalation, was immediately followed by another round consisting of as much pumpkin pie as was allowed. This whole process would last approximately 7 minutes.

My second version of feasting was an imaginary pigging out on the candy trees, grass, and bushes that grew along the chocolate river in Willie Wonka’s chocolate factory. Although fictitious, this feast was on every kid’s to-do list.

In both of my 8-year-old mind’s examples, feasting involved some form of shoving large amounts of food into my mouth as quickly as possible before my stomach screamed for mercy. Feasting was simply a hyped up, turbo-boosted, no-limits form of eating. At the time, my understanding of the meaning of a “feast” was incomplete. However, one clue that points to the real meaning of a feast can even be found in the Willie Wonka story itself. Even though every magical item in the Chocolate Factory was innovative, edible, and delicious, the real prize of the whole factory was the small and simple, Everlasting Gobstopper.

This special candy’s flavor never ran out. And, its size never shrunk, no matter how long you enjoyed it. Willie Wonka recognized it as his most prized invention, and wanted to protect it at all costs from immitation from his nemesis, Slugworth. Both Wonka and Slugworth knew and understood something about real value, that I hadn’t even contemplated yet.

So, even in an endless, feastable factory made of chocolate rivers, edible foliage, and lickable wallpaper, the most valuable item available was the smallest and simplest. Whomever possessed this wonderous piece of candy, could simply pop in the everlasting gobstopper and instantly remember, feel, and experience all over again the special moment of the Chocolate factory experience.

Maybe the meaning behind a real feast isn’t about who can eat the most turkey or pie, or the biggest chocolate park bench in the shortest amount of time, or even who can float the highest after guzzling fizzy lifting drinks. Maybe a “feast” has more to do with how long it can be enjoyed, or remembered.

Maybe the whole point of the feast isn’t about food at all. Maybe best way to look at a feast is to concentrate on what is being celebrated, commemorated and remembered.

Let’s try a better definition.

A feast is a celebration. A feast is a commemoration. A feast is an event to help us remember something significant and meaningful….mingled with food.

Thanksgiving is a feast, but it isn’t about turkey, its about remembering what we’ve been blessed with, and celebrating those blessings.

The Passover feast isn’t about unleavened bread, but about commemorating the salvation of the Israelites from the angel of death right before escaping Egypt.

Feasting isn’t about the food.

One of the most well known scriptures in the Book of Mormon highlights the word “feast”…

“Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.” -2 Nephi 31:20

I can’t tell you how many times I have read that verse, and the one thing that always pops in my mind when I read the word “feast” is…….food. Or, stuffing my face with food. That initial, superficial thought is kind of like finally being able to visit Paris, the culinary capital of the world, and when dinnertime comes, heading over to the nearest Burger King. There is so much more there to be enjoyed. We just need to explore a little more.

And, while we are comparing French pastries and soufflé to whoppers, we may also benefit from looking a bit closer at the menu items for our feast. The scripture has us feast upon the “word of Christ”. In our Willie Wonka metaphor, this might be similar to the famous Willie Wonka Chocolate Bar. Willie Wonka was famous for his delicious chocolate. It was the most commonly seen, accessible, and familiar symbol for his candy empire. But, as those who got to enjoy his factory tour could attest, there was so much more to enjoy than just the chocolate bars. The chocolate was just the beginning.

It is similar for the “words of Christ”. The “chocolate bars” are the delicious words we read in the scriptures. But, there is a whole factory full of other sweets to enjoy. In the very next chapter, Nephi gives us some more details on what the words of Christ are.

“Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ.” -2 Nephi 32:3

OK, so the words of Christ are the sciptures, and anything the angels say, got it.

What else?

Well, if we read that again, that phrase isn’t really limited to angels. The whole verse explains that Angels speak the words of Christ, BECAUSE they speak by the power of the Holy Ghost. In that sense, any feeling, memory, hymn, urging, prompting, thought, experience, or moment that is experienced under the influence of the Holy Ghost, constitutes the words of Christ. Every moment in our life where we feel the spirit, or his influence is a singular word of Christ because it is truth. They become even more special as we realize they are custom made for us individually. My “words of Christ” are His words to me. Every time I feel the influence of the Holy Ghost, He is speaking directly to me. Custom made candy. That opens up a whole entire factory full of deliciousness.

Now that we have an updated view of what a feast really is, and hopefully a better understanding of the very diverse, delicious menu items that are the words of Christ, lets go back to the original verse again… It could sound a little bit more like, “Wherefore, if you press forward, celebrating, commemorating, and remembering each experience, moment, or feeling of peace and comfort influenced by the Holy Ghost, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.

That is a feast. That sounds delicious. And the best part is, we are all invited.

If we recognize that a feast is a celebration, a commemoration, and a way to remember something special, observance of that feast becomes even more meaningful, valuable, and filling.

And, let’s not forget the most valuable item in the chocolate factory menu. The Everlasting Gobstopper. The smallest item that was valued for its eternal flavor and its ability to bring back the special memories and experiences over and over again.

If only there were a spiritual everlasting gobstopper. How amazing would that be if we had a real life, simple, small token that we could partake of over, and over, and over again in order to help us always remember the spiritual experiences we’ve had. Now that would be a real feast.