The Proof of the Pudding is in the Eating

Chocolate Pie is one of the family favorites at Thanksgiving. Sometimes I make it totally from scratch. This year I used a box pudding. Either way, there’s a sequence of cooking the filling.

When you first add the dry and wet ingredients, they don’t mix well, and little lumps float on the top. As the mixture heats up, they start to blend. It takes a certain amount of patience and perseverance to make cooked pudding. It slowly thickens as it cooks over low heat, and it has to be constantly stirred to a full boil that cannot be stirred down. If you wander off, or turn up the heat, it scorches on the bottom and the burnt taste permeates the pudding. I know. I’ve tried these things.

This year as I was stirring the pudding, I thought about my mother. One of my favorite memories is of her standing at the stove, stirring with her right hand, while reading, holding a book in her left hand.

My mind traveled on to how passion for a cause develops somewhat like making pudding. Passion often starts with things that don’t mix well—situations that are downright irritating or offensive. There may be a wet side of the mix—things that make us cry, and awaken an emotional side of us.

God keeps the heat on. As much as we’d like to have conflicts resolved like one-hour television shows, the irritations continue, until our passion begins to take form. We realize that we’re called to be more than irritated; we’re called to address the offense. Our alliance with God thickens as we join Him in righting a wrong, defending the defenseless, or upholding His righteousness. Our passion boils, and it will not be stirred down.

Anger and annoyances can be an indicator from God of the path He wants us to take: “Be angry, and yet do not sin…” (Ephesians 4:26.) What are your thoughts about living a life of passion?

By the way, the chocolate pie was gone first. God bless…

Millie McNabb, B.A., B.Mus.

Temperament Profiles can help you identify your passion and God-given design. Find out more at www.ChristianValuesLegacy.com