Faithful Food: Blessings for Life

Kim Long, Saint Mary of the Pines DRE

“Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.” 1 Peter 3:3-4

IT IS SAID that the only thing certain is change and with any life changes we have a few choices; we can reject, grudgingly accept, or we can embrace. Where I previously saw the decision to embrace as immediate, now I am learning oh so slowly that it is a process, an exercise in trust and affirmation. After all, did the Israelites really just “take God’s word for it immediately” when he told them “I set before you life and death, choose life that you may live.” Somehow I don’t think so. God alone knows our future so I am learning to trust Him as I am weary from careening wildly from one life battle to another. Here is a story of how that played out in my personal life and the life of our parish, a story of how we affirmed a friend and her impact on all our lives. When I came to work at St. Mary’s, I was happy to be home, since it is the church of my conversion. One of the gifts God bestowed upon me is the ability to remember small details about people I meet. While this might sound nice, it can be off putting, especially when they don’t remember me! So it was with a woman whom I remembered quite well. She was teaching confirmation when I arrived as a “brand new baby DRE” wet behind the ears. In any uncertain situation formality is my default and her appraising look from behind her glasses made me feel very uncertain. God alone knew what each of us was thinking. Time passed, we had our ups and downs…sometimes way down- but over time and with God’s grace mutual respect began to take root. Overtime we moved into the area of respectful debate and finally a place of mutual love and true friendship. I laugh when I describe our friendship as “hard wrought and hard fought.” And a truer statement was never made. We laugh about it. Sometimes our opinions differ and there are some, though not many, hard fought issues. I tell you this because I want you to know the “rest of the story.” Here is what happened next… During a Lenten fish fry a whispered statement circulated around the cake sale table “Have you heard? Paula is moving to Baton Rouge.” I was stunned, then quickly dismissive, refusing to believe it. She loved to tell people she had been here since the trees were planted (we are not St. Mary of

Paula brought this dish to her last meeting as a member. It was so good I had three helpings, and the bowl was all but licked clean. I am sure she will share this with her new church family. There are many variations but here is the one Paula brought.

the Pines for nothing!). In a word, she and her family were fixtures in the parish, a mainstay. How could we get along without them? Lenten fish fries gave way to Eastertide and sacrament receptions, the summer stretched before us with Vacation Bible School on the horizon. What I refused to see on the horizon was her move. Things fell into place so effortlessly with their relocation that we all recognized the hand of God at work. St. Francis of Rome, our women’s group known by its members as a “circle of sisters”, held our first meeting of the year and her last meeting as a member. With courage and love we gathered, sniffed and fought back tears, and shared our meal. After our meeting we did something very impromptu-we played High-Low and rather than share the highs and lows of our own day we each shared a treasured time with her. As we sat with our chairs in a circle, the space between each of us filled with memories, love, laughter, and tears as we shared. We then showered her with prayers and well wishes and spiritual (and some practical!) advice. At the end of the evening we stood around her with our hands on her shoulders, arms, hands, and blessed her going forth from us with all the love and affirmation which had grown throughout the years. The outward counting of time and space, tangible on most days through tools of measurement, seemed to be suspended and as St. Peter’s verse reminded us that the unfaded beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, the spirit of kinship, the spirit of life is God’s gift to those willing to receive it.

faithful food

Cornbread Salad

One 16 oz package of cornbread mix (Jiffy) Roma or grape tomatoes, quartered One red and one orange (or yellow or green) bell pepper One red onion, peeled and finely sliced or chopped (your preference) 2 cans of black beans, drained and rinsed Bacon pieces (12 -16 oz package) Sharp cheddar cheese, grated One can of mixed kernel corn (white and yellow kernels)

Dressing

One cup of mayo (I love Duke’s) One cup sour cream One packet (1 oz) Ranch dressing mix

Prepare cornbread (a cast iron skillet is best)

While baking, wash and chop tomatoes and onions. Grate cheese. Open and drain beans and corn.

While cornbread is cooling, mix up the dressing.

In a large trifle bowl layer ingredients in this order (use half so you will layer twice): Cornbread, beans, bell pepper, tomatoes, onions, cheese, bacon, corn dressing.

Repeat layers using the remaining ingredients.

Garnish the top layer of dressing with bacon, cheese, and onions.

As with lots of recipes you can adjust this one to your taste.