What Will We Make of It (10/26/2025)

Yesterday, I went grocery shopping. As I was selecting my heads of lettuce, a father and son stepped up to the peppers beside me. The father gave his son tips for how to select the best pepper for what they were going to cook. And suddenly, I found myself 2000 miles and over 60 years away, as a 12-year-old learning how to cook beside Ethel. She taught me so much more than how to cook. She taught me about life.

I remember her taking me to the kitchen and having me look into the fridge and the cupboard. “Making a meal is like making a life. You see what you have to work with,” she told me. What will you make of it?”  We discussed my options. She made me choose which one I wanted to make. And then she helped me, teaching me all the ins and outs of making country fried steak, mashed potatoes with white gravy, and black-eyed peas. That day and many others like it, all I got out of it was how to cook. Years later, upon reflection, I learned the truth in her words and the gift she gave me. Life is a lot like making a meal out of what is at hand.

The LORD creates us and gifts us uniquely. And the Spirit graces us daily. We have so much at hand. What will we make of what we have? How will we use it? Will we use what we have to nurture others, to care for others?

Ethel not only taught me how to cook, how to read recipes, how to be creative in the kitchen, she also taught me how to take stock of what I have and make decisions about how best to use it all. She was right. Making a meal is a lot like making a life. I had a “career” or main course, but I also found ways of using extra time and gifts serving others. That was my dessert, I guess. And I found that cooking was best when it was for others, not just for me. I see that in life, too. When I use my time and energy and gifts for others, it is more fulfilling than just using it for me.

I wish everyone had an Ethel in their life. Her gifts to me have lasted a lifetime and her words of loving wisdom still guide me. And I recognize that just as we must eat every day which requires cooking every day, life is lived in increments, also. What I have today, I may not have tomorrow or tomorrow, I may discover additional resources. Decisions need to be made daily. What will I make of it? What will we make of it?

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.