I bought a large bag of lemons. I was attracted by their bright lemony yellow color. When I came home, I looked up lemon recipes. I found one for a lemon cake.
The recipe called for grating, then juicing the lemon. So I am vigorously grating away and saying to myself, "Poor lemon." That's a lot of abrasive action against that beautiful peel! Then I sliced it and pressed it against the juicer. I noticed the wonderful lemon aroma. I then added the zest and the juice to the other ingredients for the cake.
There's a lesson here, I'm thinking. Even from a lemon. To be useful for the recipe, it had to undergo change. The outer layer was scraped off for the zest and it was pressed for the juice.
There are experiences that I come up against that are grating, abrasive. When I am in the midst of these situations, there is no avoiding them. They are unpleasant. But these are the situations that can release beneficial inner qualities, like forgiveness, kindness, generosity, perseverance, etc. Like the lemon that undergoes change to fulfill a purpose, I also can fulfill a rightful purpose in trying circumstances. Hopefully, abrasive situations will bring out the best in me.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7
Your blog today makes me hungry! A thought came to me as I was reading this: In our lives we will always encounter people who are more like lemons than oranges! The orange is naturally sweet, but the "poor lemon" needs some help! Do you remember the "Lemon Tree" song by Peter, Paul and Mary? It had the refrain: "Lemon tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweet, but the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat." Well, as you have proved today, that refrain is just not true - if you give the lemon some attention! Now, please don't misunderstand, when dealing with the lemons in our lives, we must not be abrasive and squeeze them into who we want them to be! I'm only suggesting that we gently welcome them, see what it is they really need or are looking for, and then share our faith and trust in God's mercy, love, and forgiveness. Then those lemons may prove to be sweet blessing in the world - just like that cake of yours!
ReplyDeleteWell said!
ReplyDeleteThis may be stretching, really stretching the analogy, but maybe we are all born as lemons, and it is God's loving grace that sweetens us up. :-)
I love that! Here's to making Lemonade, everyday!
ReplyDelete