May 03 '03
Volume 361
Striving To
Build Sixty Percent Ready
On Easter Sunday,
'02,the membership of First Baptist Church, Pontotoc broke its own
record for financial giving. A Building Committee had earlier proposed the
church pursue a plan to provide education space to accommodate an average
attendance of six hundred, a fellowship hall spacious enough to meet the
needs of a growing church family, and a facility most churches refer to as
a Family Life Center. No building drawings were presented only the vision
of what was needed.
Armed with a vision, church leaders developed a marketing plan under the
banner, Sacrifice - A Legacy Of Love. In the weeks prior to Easter
Sunday, '02, various individual presented testimonials during the morning
worship services and helped soften the resistance of those members who felt
giving sacrificially to fund a building yet to be designed was somewhat
premature. The pastor developed a series of sermons on the importance of
sacrificial giving. The result of the combined emphases was an astonishing
collection on Easter Sunday. I don't have the exact figure, but I remember
it exceeded two hundred thousand dollars.
A few months ago, the church approved an architectural plan that purportedly
satisfied all the criteria defined by the Building Committee, i.e., the
educational space, larger fellowship area, and Family Life facility. In approving
the plan, the church also agreed to raise roughly one million dollars of
the more than three million dollars needed, prior to awarding any building
contracts, in order to reduce the total indebtedness to two million dollars,
and further established a timetable to accomplish that particular goal.
This Easter, a continuation of the Sacrificial Giving theme netted
slightly more than one hundred thousand dollars, bringing the church closer
to its goal of raising $1.1 Million dollars. First Baptist Church has now
raised sixty percent of the money needed to proceed with the plans to build.
I've heard mixed reactions from church members as to why less money was raised
this Easter as opposed to last Easter. An unnamed individual (probably a
Democrat) blamed the economy and a tight job market. Some are of the opinion
the membership hasn't fully recovered from the sacrificial giving of the
prior year. In light of having a clear plan, rather than a grand vision,
some members fully expected the church to do as well or better with this
year's giving and expressed their disappointment.
In comparing the promotional aspects of the two years, I would note there
were fewer testimonies from church members this year and perhaps less emphasis
from the pulpit. Perhaps, our leaders felt the pictures (plans) would speak
for themselves; I don't know. I do know that, if the church intends to start
a building next May, then approximately four hundred forty thousand dollars
are needed.
I admit to having some doubt that FBC, Pontotoc will meet its goal according
to its self-imposed time frame, but I have no doubt she will eventually do
so. Whether her timetable and God's timetable are in sync remains to be seen.
Table Manners
Cultural Differences Noted
With respect to silverware, I don't require a large variety of pieces to
eat a meal. Meals at our house are not staggered courses requiring a different
fork for everything but are mostly an entrée with one or two vegetables
and perhaps a dessert. I seldom use a salad fork to eat a salad at home,
though I prefer one when finishing off a meal with a piece of cake. I can
get through a breakfast of biscuits, sausage patties, Golden Eagle syrup,
and coffee using only a knife, and require only my fingers to down a hamburger
with French freedom fries.
I do have some table manners, and if my apparent lack of civility (as noted
above) shocks anyone, I can assure the reader I do eat right when we have
company over or I'm eating in a public place. My mama didn't raise me to
eat with a knife, but a knife works well in transferring syrup to a biscuit,
which is my most common etiquette fault, and I've occasionally used a knife
to spear a piece of steak to put into my mouth. One isnt supplied with
plastic wear for eating fries at McDonalds or Burger King, so Ive adapted
to eating fries without cutlery.
Over the past year or two, as I've grown more interested in TV shows about
food, I've noticed a high percentage of folks eating backwards with respect
to the way learned to use a knife and fork. I was taught to cut a piece of
meat by holding the meat with a fork in my left hand while cutting a bite-sized
portion by holding the knife in my right hand. Then, once the piece was cut,
I was to lay down the knife, place the fork in my right hand (tines curved
upwards), secure the bite of meat with the fork, and transfer the meat from
the plate to my mouth.
These days, the Food Network is filled with shows in which guests, judges,
and hosts, all cut a piece of meat as I do but keeping their fork in their
left hand, stab the portion, and lift it to their mouths with tines turned
downward. I see two things wrong with that picture; first, they are using
the wrong hand to eat with and secondly they've got the fork upside down.
I suppose it's a European thing or Oriental influence at work here. After
all, we Americans are increasingly supporting a global economy, and with
our devotion to food, it's only natural for us to embrace the table manners
of other cultures.
Some persons who read this newsletter are adept in the use of chopsticks
when eating Chinese food. I'm not and have no desire to learn how to manipulate
two oversized toothpicks to eat a few grains of rice.
I've not researched the subject, but I doubt there is a civilized society
anywhere that considers it good manners to talk while chewing food. In the
Deep South, not talking with food in ones mouth is instilled in the minds
of toddlers as soon as they learn to speak. One of my earliest memories of
the children of my brother-in-law involves table manners.
"Don't talk wit 'cher mouth full," plays as clearly in my mind today as it
did the first time I heard Clay Crouch, then a two-year old, caution either
his older brother or sister regarding their table manners.
There are good reasons to avoid talking and chewing a mouthful of food at
the same time. Some involve personal safety and help reduce the risk of one
choking while eating. Also, its easier to understand the speech of
another individual if there's no food blocking the sound or preventing the
tongue from helping shape the sounds and the lips from forming the words.
There are other reasons, to be sure, but the best one I can think of involves
not having to look at the half-chewed food inside the mouth of someone. Yet,
if one watches many of the programs on the Food Network, it's fairly obvious
that a large number of folks attempt to talk with their mouths full.
In my youth, I was probably admonished to keep my elbows off the table more
than any other rule regarding table etiquette. I caught right on to the use
of a knife and fork, had no trouble refraining from talking with my mouth
full, but the elbow thing was the hardest to learn. And, though I was taught
to keep my left hand in my lap while dining, I seldom eat that way, unless
Im attending a banquet. Just as cultural differences define how we
use a knife and fork, cultural influence in some countries dictates that
diners keep both hands visible when eating. I think it has to do with folks
around the table not wanting to get shot, strangled, or stabbed at mealtime.
I wish I had known this earlier, so I could have told Mom about it.
Party Months
RRN Party 2003
To accommodate a large number of people, Id have to rent a building
if I wanted to stage an indoor party. To have an outdoor party during the
month of October would probably assure pleasant temperatures, but by October
many folks are too interested in college football to attend a fish fry. April
would be a good time for a cookout or fish fry except the weather is too
unpredictable, and the chances of having a perfect day are slim, plus coming
out of tax season, my finances are usually shot.
From May to September, romance blossoms, as do opportunities for parties.
However, too many folks are involved in graduations in May, weddings in June,
vacations in July, preparations for back to school in August, and the onset
of football season in September. The months from November through March are
normally too cool for an outdoor party.
There seems to be no "best month" for an outdoor party, but for the past
few years, July has been the chosen month for the Annual RRN Backyard Party.
One can usually count on July to be a dry month, a requirement for an outdoor
event, and I can count on lining up cooks among the ranks of Ministers of
Music, because their weekends are normally freer in July than those in May
and June. Personally, I find the weather too hot for my tastes in July, but
maybe the weather god will be kind to us this year.
Lee Gordon of West Point, MS, has consented to spearhead the fish frying
operation and his able assistant, Jim Hess of Vicksburg, MS, has agreed to
help. Readers may recall that last year, Lees church adjusted his schedule
for the Saturday of the fish fry and Jim had to shoulder all the responsibility
as chief cook.
The Fifth Annual RRN Backyard Party will be held on Saturday afternoon, July
19, 2003. The menu will be Southern fried catfish and the usual trimmings.
There may be entertainment and there may not. Persons who wish to bring a
cake or freezer of ice cream are encouraged to do so. Official invitations
will be mailed at a later date. Not every "subscriber" will receive a mailed
invitation, but a mailed invitation is not a prerequisite for attendance.
Any person reading this or other notification is invited. All that is required
is a note or phone call explaining ones intentions a few days prior to the
party.
I look forward to the time in July when persons who belong to the readership
of this newsletter can mix and mingle while dining on some of the finest
outdoor party food to be found anywhere in the Deep South. Im confident
all will have a great time. Mark your calendars, now for July 19, 2003.
Bodock Beau
The Cracked Pot
Readers are accustomed to finding humor in this section of the newsletter,
and we hope they are not too disappointed this week. Malcolm Lindsey was
kind enough to share the following anecdote with a few of his crackpot friend
The Cracked Pot
A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole
which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, while
the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At
the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived
only half full. For two years this process went on daily, with the bearer
delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his house.
Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, but the poor
cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection and miserable that it was
able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.
After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, the pot spoke
to the water bearer one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, and I
want to apologize to you. I have been able to deliver only half my load because
this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.
Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full
value from your efforts," the pot said.
The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only
on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because
I have always known about your flaw, and I planted flower seeds on your side
of the path, and every day while we walk back, you've watered them. For two
years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table.
Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to
grace our house!"
Moral: Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots.
But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so
very interesting and rewarding. Just take each person for who they are, and
look for the good in them.
Share this article with a friend.
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