Disappointing Apple

 

 It was lunchtime at the office and as usual, I opened my lunch box and took out an apple.  Then, I turned to my computer and opened my message folder to see all of the things I hadn’t had time to get to that morning blinking at me.  I had a moment to breathe and hopefully I could catch up on these messages before the onslaught of the afternoon began.  At least I had an apple to munch on…

I took a bite of the Honey Crisp Apple I was holding and was instantly disappointed.

I will confess freely that I like apples.  If I were to name my top five fruits, apples would certainly be there along with peaches and pears.  Grapes are good, but in my experience inconsistent.  Plums are often sour, while catching watermelons at the perfect ripeness is often a challenge.  Apples, on the other hand, (except for Red Delicious Apples) are always good.

Except for this one.

The apple I held in my hand didn’t measure up.  The flavor wasn’t great, which was disappointing, but even worse, the nice crunch you are supposed to feel when you bite into an apple simply wasn’t there.  This apple was mealy – the memory of an apple – floating in that dismal space between over ripe and rotten.

I looked into my lunchbox and discovered that I hadn’t packed much else except a sandwich and two cookies and went ahead and ate the thing.

An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but this one wasn’t keeping anyone away – except some sad soul who happened to be allergic to apples.

The disappointment came from the fact that my apple didn’t have flavor or crunch I expected.

There are some people in this world that we don’t trust.  When they let us down, we are not pleased, but we are not surprised either.  I am never surprised when I hear that a politician was caught taking illicit money or cheating on their spouse.  This seems par for the course.

On the other hand, when someone seems trustworthy and outstanding and we discover that all of this is fraud, it tends to make us distrust not only that person, but others, as well.

Jesus called out the religious leaders of His day, “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either.” (Matthew 23:14) These men looked good on the outside, but inwardly, they didn’t measure up.

Of course, hypocrites aren’t what they appear, but the sad thing is that they damage the faith of others who put their trust in them.  Jesus described them as white washed tombs – shiny on the outside, but inside full of skeletons.

The call comes clearly through to live honest lives.  The problem isn’t that hypocrites aren’t perfect – none of us are – but that they pretend a perfection they haven’t attained.  When it finally falls apart and their true nature is exposed, it will damage not only their lives, but the faith of those who placed them on a pedestal. 

I pray that we could live with integrity, not like a honey crisp apple that pretends to be a paragon of appleness when it is hiding a mealy, flavorless interior.

Hot Sauce!

 

“What kind of peppers do you think they are?”  Elliot asked.  His grandparents had sent some small, apparently quite spicy, peppers our way.  They sat in a plastic baggy, all five of them, looking mildly back at us, hiding their true nature inside their yellow skins.

“Google will tell me,” I said and snapped a picture and quickly Google informed of the answer.

“Elliot, do you know why the pepper couldn’t hit the target?”

“Does this have anything to do with these peppers?”  Elliot was not buying my Dad joke sensibility.

“Because it didn’t Hab-a-nero!”  I said.

“That’s not the way Spanish speaking people say it,” he said, critically.  “They don’t pronounce the “Hs” in their words.”

“Maybe it’s a cockney dad joke,” I said.  “Anyway, these are Habanero Peppers – whether or not you pronounce the H.”

It was at this point that Elliot got his bright idea.  “I’m going to make my own hot sauce!”  He said.  “These Habaneros will be perfect to start that!”

“There are a few Jalapenos in the fridge too,” his mother put in.  “You can use those too if you want.”

And so began the quest for hot sauce.  Elliot quickly found an online recipe.  “The only thing is that it says you should wear a respirator if you are going to make this,” he said. 

“Maybe that’s why Darth Vader wears one,” I said.  “He seems like a big hot sauce sort of fellow.  I’m sure when he isn’t force choking soldiers, he’s in the kitchen whipping up his latest spicy concoction.  You’ll have to make do with the hood on over the stove.  Hopefully that will take away the worst of the fumes.”

Elliot began working on his hot sauce.  He was careful to wear gloves and got all of his ingredients diced up well and put them on the stove top to cook together.  It was about this time that I heard him begin to cough and I came downstairs to investigate.

The air was thick with capsaicin.  It really did get into your throat and irritated it and you couldn’t help but cough at regular intervals.  For some reason, Elliot hadn’t turned on the vent above the stove and once he did this, things got a little better, but for the rest of the evening if you went anywhere near the kitchen, you would start to get choked up.

Of course, hot sauce is one of those things where a little bit goes a long way.  A few drops are good; a cup is overwhelming.  When it is aerosolized, it makes you realize how easy it is for viruses to float on the air just waiting for an unsuspecting soul to inhale them and begin a journey towards mucus production. 

There are other things in life where too much is not beneficial.  Wealth is one of those things.  Proverbs tells us, “Better a little with the fear of the Lord than great wealth with turmoil.” (Proverbs 15:16)

The point is not that severe poverty is beneficial to anyone – clearly it isn’t, but the pursuit of wealth brings with it chaos and turmoil.  Choosing instead to pursue other things and to give generously with what we do have is the solution.

Just a small amount of hot sauce is needed to bring out the flavor of a taco.  In much the same way, a small amount of wealth with a large dose of contentment is what is needed to bring satisfaction, while the reverse will only bring a life of turmoil.

Fried Bologna!

 

“It’s Back!”  The sign in front of the restaurant read.  “Fried Bologna!”

A surprised look came on my face.  I hadn’t known that Fried Bologna was gone.  I wondered whether if it had an enjoyable time during its time away from Brookneal.  I could picture it sitting on a beach somewhere in North Carolina sipping an Arnold Palmer and watching the tide come in.

I wondered at my lack of emotion in thinking about the Return of Fried Bologna.  There are many things that are life changing, but this just didn’t seem to fit that category at all.

At the same time, I have heard of people pursuing the craziest things.  I remember a story from a while back of people who would invest hours driving to locations where McDonald’s McRib sandwiches were for sale.  I've had a McRib and I can't say I enjoyed it enough that I would order at a local McDonald's.  I certainly wouldn't drive many miles to get one.

There are different things that people devote their time and energy to.  It could be mastering chess or learning to read the Iliad in the original Greek.  I suppose the problem is that we don’t really know ahead of acquiring this item or skill whether we will fill rewarded at the end of accomplishing it.

Jesus said, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” (Matthew 6:33)  Quite simply, if you put the important things first, everything works out better than if you fill your life with trivialities and then try to squeeze in a few valuable things around the edges.

Everyone reaches the end of their life having used 24 hours each day and 7 days each week.  All will have accomplished many different things, but whether or not they feel a sense of accomplishment will depend totally on what those things are.

Those who pursue the kingdom of God will receive satisfaction in a way that others will not – even those who pursue Fried Bologna in Brookneal, Virginia.