November 15 – “Pondering the Peel Process”

 

 

Have you ever thought about what it is like to peel things? 

 

OK.  Where did that thought come from?  Every morning when I get up, I'm usually the only one up for about an hour.  It's a great opportunity to do my quiet time with God and my journal for the day and get started on sermon preparations or life group Bible study or Pastor's class stuff or any of the other pile of stuff on my to-do list for the week.  Sometimes I can get more done in that hour than I can in three or four hours when everyone else is up and about.  There's always some minor crisis to distract attention away from tasks. 

 

My routine usually consists of turning on the computer, getting the newspaper, feeding the dogs, taking my pills with a glass of chocolate milk, pouring a cup of coffee, and having a bowl of fruit.  Now our usual collection of fruit entails fresh pineapple (I get a kick out of using our one really big knife to cut it open), some grapes, and … here it is … some kind of citrus fruit. 

 

We started out with oranges.  I have always liked oranges.  Juicy and messy usually appeals to male children.  But they can be a pain to peel.  If you don't have fingernails, and if you are determined not to use any external assistance (also a male child trait), they can be very difficult to breach.  All efforts can be rebuffed by that leathery hide surrounding the precious fruit within.  I learned when our boys were playing soccer that the easy way within was to simply use a knife and cut them into quarters.  But where is the fun in that?  Besides, then you can't cram your fingers in between the natural segments and gently (or not so gently) tear them apart, giving you not just one or four, but many little opportunities to enjoy that refreshing explosion of juice in your mouth when you chomp down.

 

At some point in my meager past existence I was introduced to a new hybrid orange-y kind of beast.  I'm sure it's Chris who gets credit for it.  This new (to me) taste treat was called a Clementine.  It is much smaller than a regular orange, but it is oh-so-much easier to peel.  The skin is much thinner, I guess, and as a result, it takes little or no effort to poke a finger in there and get started on freeing up the juices within.  In fact I have been successful numerous times at completing the peeling process and ending up with one continuous string of Clementine skin.  Quite an accomplishment.  Pat me on the back. 

 

Ecclesiastes 10:1 says, "As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor."

 

Father, protect our family from folly.  Amen.