June 27 '98
Volume 108
Wors-hip Chorus
A Personal Choice
Disturbed by what I view as a lack of congregational
opportunities to participate in singing, at First Baptist Church, I have
adopted a position that you may consider absurd. Perhaps, you will
tell me I've cut off my nose to spite my face. Perhaps, you
are right.
Last year, during the celebration of the 150th anniversary of FBC, a protracted
event if ever there was one, I began to observe that though we started the
morning service twenty minutes earlier than normal, congregational singing
was sacrificed in order to free up more time for the various celebratory
events. Some weeks, the congregation only sang one song, and most weeks
where we sang two songs from the hymnal, we sang fewer than three verses
of four-stanza hymns.
On the occasions when the congregation sang more than two songs, it is fair
to say the third song was not in the hymnal but was what I believe is referred
to as a worship chorus. The words to the chorus were usually found
in the order of worship materials.
I have sung about all of the choruses I want to sing. I don't dislike
them; they typically express praises to God. I think we've worn them
out, and I don't mean they've been worn out by repeating the same ones over
and over. Instead, I mean the use of choruses has run its course. A
change is needed, and if nothing better can be found to replace the choruses,
I would favor setting them aside and singing more stanzas of the songs from
the hymnal.
My complaint with worship choruses is twofold. First, most of them
are used two Sundays or less, before being replaced by a different one.
Therefore it is difficult for the congregation to learn the tune to
one chorus, before being introduced to a different chorus. Secondly,
the congregation does not have sheet music to help along those of us who
read a little music.
I haven't the slightest clue why churches began incorporating choruses into
their worship services. Had the movement begun in the Sixties, then
I would suggest it was the "hip" thing to do. Perhaps it's something
promoted by the music department of the Southern Baptist Convention. If
so, then somebody or some committee set forth a goal, and worship choruses
became a part of the action plan to achieve the goal. I can only guess
that a part of the goal was educational in nature, teaching believers to
praise God in song and sharing with non-believers God's love. However,
I don't believe we need to look any further than the Baptist Hymnal to achieve
the same goal.
I understand enough about the teaching/ learning experience to know a person
retains part of the learning through hearing alone; he retains more information
when it is acquired through reading and even more by doing. Rote or
repetition helps reinforce the learning process. The more senses involved
in the learning process, the better. I have concluded that worship
choruses are not meaningful experiences for me, or should I say not as meaningful
as I would like them to be.
I am not a gifted singer, but having sung in the church choir, I am familiar
with four-part harmony and can appreciate any song being sung more fully
if I am able to view the notes on the musical staff and sing my part.
Singers in the congregation are not given sheet music for the worship
choruses because the cost would be prohibitive, the average worshiper wouldn't
pay any attention to the music portions, and more sheets would be lost or
removed from the sanctuary than returned to the racks in the pews.
However, since I have grown weary of the choruses and dislike singing
unfamiliar songs without the aid of written music, I have chosen to refrain
from singing any song or chorus in which I do not have the option to see
the music.
My choice is a personal one. I am not sharing this information in order
to influence others to follow my example, but because I am aware some have
observed my silence during certain portions of the worship service, I felt
they might appreciate an explanation.
It is my hope that no one, having read this article, feels that I am dissatisfied
with the Minister of Music or the Music Program of FBC. Were it not
for the great music and great friends at FBC, I would have more than a little
trouble sitting through an average Sunday morning service.
Hamburger Helpers
Possible Food Poisoning
You may have seen the Dateline special, recently, warning consumers
of the dangers in purchasing adulterated ground beef. Adulterated ground
beef is an industry term describing ground meat that contains trimmings from
animals other than cattle. This means the ground beef you purchase
may contain one or more of the following animal meats common to many
supermarkets: poultry, lamb, and pork. Certainly, it is one type of
hamburger helper you do not want to
try.
I was surprised by the findings of the samples of ground beef taken from
10 major cities of the United States. I would have expected to learn
that trace amounts, i.e., amounts less than one percent, were found in some
of the samples, but I did not realize there would be such a high percentage
of adulterated samples where tests showed up to 29% of the contents came
from animal meats other than beef. The results were shocking even if
you take into consideration the Dateline samples were randomly selected and
not scientifically obtained.
Having spent about 20 years in the meat business, I saw a number of changes
that improved the quality of the end product. Improvements in sanitation
practices took giant strides during those years as did better packaging methods
both of which strengthened consumer confidence in fresh meats. Yet,
in this decade, public confidence has been eroded by Ecoli outbreaks, bad
food handling practices of the Food Lion chain, and now the despicable and
unethical practice of selling mixed meats as 100% pure ground beef.
Adulteration of meat is not a new practice. It has been around as long
as grocers have had meat grinders. When I entered the workforce at
age thirteen, I was aware of a method used by some meat markets to prolong
the shelf life of ground beef by using a preservative commonly called "dynamite."
The substance was condemned by the health department because ground beef
could be almost rotten and still maintain the red appearance normally associated
with freshness.
To my knowledge, the substance was never used at Carter and Austin Grocery.
I can, factually, state the product was in use by other stores in Pontotoc
and surrounding area during that
era.
One of the chains involved in the adulterated meat episode on Dateline
has vowed to implement a policy that prohibits their meat departments from
grinding trimmings derived from preparing various roasts and steaks for the
meat counter. However, if the same chain is unable to insure their meat
departments do not mix other meat with beef when producing ground beef, how
can they expect to restrict meat personnel to regrinding only a packinghouse
prepared ground meat? Insisting the meat department personnel discard all
meat trimmings is not going to assure anyone the practice is followed, anymore
than insisting adulteration of ground beef will not be tolerated.
I believe, in time, people who eat ground beef will learn that the only way
to have confidence in the wholesomeness of a hamburger is to insist upon
it being cooked well done. Anything short of well done is an invitation
to possible food poisoning.
Any harmful bacteria present on a steak is going to be found on the surface
of the meat, so even a rare steak that has had the surface thoroughly seared
may be considered safe, but the bacteria present in ground beef is found
throughout the meat patty. Therefore it is imperative the internal
temperature reach a high enough temperature to kill the bacteria in the middle
of the patty. Typically you can judge the patty safe, even without
a meat thermometer, if the juices of the meat are clear and the color of
the interior meat is neither red nor pink. If anyone has received Ecoli
poisoning from a hamburger that was cooked well done, I have not heard it
reported on the news.
If you suspect the ground beef you are purchasing contains any meat other
than beef, confront the market manager or the store manager with your concerns.
Even if you are able to watch the meat being ground, you cannot be certain
that handling procedures have removed all contaminants or traces of adulteration.
You might want to start looking for some clues to possible ground beef
adulteration in your favorite supermarket. It is not likely you could,
by sight or taste, pick out the adulterated pack if one in ten packs
was
adulterated. However, you can check the meat
case to see if the store sells any by-products of pork in the form of homemade
sausage, pork cutlets, pork for stir-fry, pork kabobs, or ground pork. If
you cannot find at least two of the above items, there is a good possibility
the market is tossing pork trimmings into the beef trimmings, where it will
eventually end up in ground beef. Furthermore, if you do not find any
of the items mentioned, I suggest you ask the meat personnel what they are
doing with their pork trimmings. A little proaction on the part of
consumers may be sufficient warning to stop a meat practice that can lead
to food poisoning and possible death.
I cannot think how you might be certain of the quality of ground beef unless
you purchase a roast or meat sub-primal cut such as a whole sirloin tip,
eye of round, or top sirloin and grind it in your home. It is a bit
of extra trouble and requires a small investment in knives and equipment,
but if you are hell-bent on eating a less than well done hamburger,
you had better go to the extra trouble or the law of averages will one day
catch-up with you.
Special Memories
Contributions Concluded
As June ends, so ends the contributions from readers of
RRN, relating a special memory involving a family member. If
you intended to write something and never got around to getting it done,
I can assure you there will be future opportunities for you to share your
thoughts or experiences via this newsletter.
I am grateful for each person who submitted an article, and I enjoyed reading
each story. However, I must admit I was disappointed by the small volume
of contributions. Some readers had earlier shared a Christmas memory
and felt other readers, who had not participated at that time, might submit
a special memory.
The concluding special memory is shared from the treasured events personally
recalled by this writer.
Hoe A Round
Cornfield Cornpone
It was a typical June day in northern Mississippi, dry and hot. The
year may have been 1953, possibly 1954. The place was my grandparent's
farm located near Thaxton, MS. My granddad, Hayden Carter, and I were
alone in the corn field, a short walk up the dirt and gravel road from the
house. In fact, we were across the road from what was referred to as
"the old home place," a crumbling log house that was built by my great
grandfather, Berkley DeKalb Carter. He may have worked the same corn
field we were working, but at the time, that thought never occurred to me.
It only occurred to me that I might die in the field from heat stroke.
My grandfather had come up the hard way, working the land as a farmer, struggling
to provide for his family. Now his children were grown and gone from
the farm, seeking a better standard of living, one less demanding on the
physical body than required by farming. My dad thought I could be of
help on the farm, so each summer, instead of packing me off to a camp somewhere,
he sent me to help his dad hoe the cotton and corn crops. I suppose,
I benefited from the farm-life experiences, but at the time, I had no way
of knowing I was developing a work ethic that would last a lifetime.
A man, even a boy, could get awfully hot pulling a hoe down a corn row, thinning
out the tender young corn so that the plants were spaced about two and one-half
to three feet apart. The ever-present grass had to be hoed down and
pulled to the "middle." Most of you know what the middle is, but my children
and grandchildren probably don't, so for their benefit I am explaining that
the middle is the low part between rows, not the middle of a given row.
The middle served to divide the field into rows, and provide a place
for mules and man to walk when plowing or to stand while hoeing. I
think it also helped to control the washing away of the land after a heavy
rain.
That summer, I learned what it was "to hoe a round." You had "hoed a round"
in a field when you had hoed the length of one row and returned on an adjacent
row to the place you had begun. Granddad used to tell me we would hoe
a round, then we would rest a round. He meant we would rest for a spell
after we finished hoeing one round and then start the cycle over again, but
we never rested as long as it took to hoe a round.
Because it was always hot when we worked in the corn field or cotton field,
Granddad would carry a jug (jug was the term we used for jar) of iced water
and set it in the shade of a tree or bush at the edge of the field. We
would move the jug from to time to time as we progressed with our work, so
we did not have too far to walk for a drink. Whenever we were thirsty,
we drank directly from the jug. We did not each have a glass from which
to drink. Whatever germs we transmitted to each other didn't seem to hurt
us.
By mid-afternoon the water in the jug was over half gone, so it was necessary
to tilt the jug sharply in order to get the water to run into your mouth.
I have a clear memory of Granddad stating, "Don't put your nose in that jug,"
then he laughed.
I laughed, too, and learned another lesson, it's hard to swallow and laugh
at the same time. After my being baptized with a little field-hand
humor, I remember hearing my granddad, on a number of subsequent occasions,
repeat the phrase, "Don't put your nose in that jug." The problem is, it's
hard to drink from a nearly empty jug without putting your nose inside the
jug.
Granddad was a pretty hard taskmaster. He worked hard and expected
anyone working with him to work hard. I am certain he was easier on
his grandchildren than his own children as are most grandparents. While
I have many memories of my granddad and the farm at Thaxton, I suppose it
is remembering his laugh that marks this memory as one so very special to
me.
Chop Or Hoe
Farming Quiz
Some persons who read this newsletter have had far more experience in cotton
and corn fields than I have. I need your comments concerning whether
you ever made a distinction between hoeing and chopping. Does
one activity refer to working in a cotton patch and the other a corn field?
Are the terms completely interchangeable, or does one refer to a thinning
process and the other a weeding process?
In the opening lines of Ode To Billy Joe, Bobbie Gentry sang, "It
was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty, Delta day. I was out
choppin' cotton, and my brother was balin' hay."
While I remember hoeing a lot of cotton, I do not recall chopping any.
I've done more hoeing in a garden than I wanted to do, but I never
chopped a garden. I have chopped corn, but I cannot be certain I ever hoed
corn.
If you cannot remember which foot is first to be fitted with sock or hose,
and whether you put your left or right shoe on first, then you need not respond
to this survey, for you probably do not differentiate between hoeing and
chopping.
Call, write, or email your thoughts. I will tally the results and let
you know the outcome.
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