Reactions to Pie

One thing I love about my Father is that He is not overly pushy.  He is a beneficent, loving provider, not a barking, unappreciated requirer.   I guess I am sensitive to this because on my 5th birthday, I had a "mildly" traumatic experience:  Mom served apple pie for dessert at lunch.   "What a treat!,"  she thought.  "And I gave you the biggest piece!" 


Well, as delectible as that apple pie may have been for her, I did not find it appetizing in the slightest.  And I did not touch it.  Long story short, I was to be kept at the table until I finished that piece of apple pie.  The kids went off to play, but I had to sit there until I woofed it down, and apologized for being such an unappreciative son.


Well, after a lengthy standoff, I was dismissed from the table and restricted to my room, having left the pie untouched.  "Whose birthday was it anyway?," I thought as I sulked....  It took me over 20 years to get over that episode, and actually sample a piece of apple pie.  I found it to be pretty good! 


One verse I love to consider, especially at Thanksgiving time is Matthew 5:6 where Jesus revealed a bit of the Father's point of view:
    Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.


I am not a bible expert, but I was taught that the standard of this filling was not a filling according to capacity, nor one which might result in overflowing, but a filling 'according to the standard of one's appetite.'  I love that.  Why?  Because our loving God allows for variations of appetite. 


I think about a wonderful piece of pie.  When offered to me as the the grand finale, after I have just stuffed myself at the Thanksgiving table, I usually say, "No, thanks.  Maybe later..."   However, were I to be offered that exact same piece of pie after a day of not having eaten, I would devour it, and lick off my plate.  My eating, or not eating, of the pie is no reflection on the pie.  It has more to do with my appetite.


Do you have a big spiritual appetite?  God says, Eat and be blessed.  Do you have a small spiritual appetite?  God says, Eat and be blessed.  Are you spiritually stuffed?  God says, That's Okay.  Food is ready when you are.  My Father's end game is to show His love and to bless.  I like what's on the menu, even when I'm not particularly hungry.  It's easy to love God, because He is so loving to me.  He seldom sends me to my room because I am not ready for His pie.


Maybe later....

Some things I know!

We generally tend to associate with people who look like we look, who dress like we dress, and think like we think.   Because we share some basic core element, we give such people a wider berth, a wider latitude of acceptance in our relationships.  We enjoy the company of people who vote like we vote, who worship like we worship, etc. There is an ease and comfort which fills the air whenever we are surrounded by such wonderfully like-minded souls.  No new story there.

The interesting part to me is, what happens within me when my comfortable world is interrupted by people who are not like me at all?  People who are blatantly (or sometimes even only slightly) different from me:  different in dress, different in thinking, different in values, different in needs, different in expectations.  Why should I even bother to care about them?  They do nothing to reinforce all that I hold dear in my life.

'You're just weird, stay away!'  I catch myself thinking.  'Not the style, nor behavioral choices I, or anyone I know, would have made.  Just plain weird.  There is a name for people like you:  Weirdo!  I don't get it, and I certainly don't get you.  What are you thinking?'

Then when I get back together with my like-minded souls -- we are in pretty constant contact -- Boy!  Do I have a discussion point for us to chew on!  You are not going to believe this!  There are people out there who are SO different from us, have you noticed?

We agree that the world is full of bizarros, and would be a much better place if everyone dressed, thought, and acted like we do....!

(Uh, ya know?  Somehow that thinking just doesn't seem to sound quite right either...)

Let me get back with you on the things that I know!