The boys at breakfast were talking about how the butchering process took place years ago with various animals on the farm with every part of the animal being used. I shared my remembrances of "hog" butchering by grandfather and father, always a month prior to Thanksgiving. The meat hanging for curing in the meat house and grandmother preparing the pickled pigs feet, head cheese, crackling and other unmentionable delicacies.
The conversation progressed to current tastes, flavors, and the reasons for the dissatisfying flavors of meats and food items, in general. One of the fellas mentioned, "You never heard the words, 'shelf life' until thirty or forty years ago,"dating all our ages. Self life is an expression that describes exactly what it attempts to define. For instance, while paying for my breakfast, I picked up a pack of Twinkies from the “impulse rack,” and found their shelf life to be twenty-five days, after which, their existence on the shelf as something edible expires. But, in my ruminating, I realize shelf life is also an expression that is metaphorically full. I mean that when I say "Cabbage Patch Kids." They were once quite a phenomenon. I remember that Denver shoppers were injured as the dolls were pulled off the shelves and seized by anxious crowds. People stood at the doors of stores over the hours of night in a craze that was relatively short-lived; as far as fads go, the shelf life was fairly brief. I have always been tempted to ask one very good friend what ever happened to the many she purchased, but then I don't like rocking any relationship after ending up with a short end of the stick so many times.
The conversation progressed to current tastes, flavors, and the reasons for the dissatisfying flavors of meats and food items, in general. One of the fellas mentioned, "You never heard the words, 'shelf life' until thirty or forty years ago,"dating all our ages. Self life is an expression that describes exactly what it attempts to define. For instance, while paying for my breakfast, I picked up a pack of Twinkies from the “impulse rack,” and found their shelf life to be twenty-five days, after which, their existence on the shelf as something edible expires. But, in my ruminating, I realize shelf life is also an expression that is metaphorically full. I mean that when I say "Cabbage Patch Kids." They were once quite a phenomenon. I remember that Denver shoppers were injured as the dolls were pulled off the shelves and seized by anxious crowds. People stood at the doors of stores over the hours of night in a craze that was relatively short-lived; as far as fads go, the shelf life was fairly brief. I have always been tempted to ask one very good friend what ever happened to the many she purchased, but then I don't like rocking any relationship after ending up with a short end of the stick so many times.
In high school chemistry we
took in the ponderous thought that everything has a active element. In fact, in
many substances this is an incredibly important number to watch. A variety of
compounds, particularly those containing certain unstable elements, become more
unstable as they approach their natural element. Chemical explosives grow
increasingly dangerous over time and with exposure to certain factors in the
environment becoming liable to explode without warning.
It seems to me there is a
tendency to view ideas and thoughts as having a similar aging process. I’ve
noticed particularly this in the previous two generations. When something
is deemed ancient or even slightly "behind the times" it is often
accordingly considered obsolete. As if it has become out-dated like a loaf of
bread or a gallon of milk. I'm discovering that the thought and/or idea of aging is more unusable as time passes. I remind myself; this is the reason I continue keeping my mind as active as I know how.
For some, a wrist watch as a useful instrument has become a work of art on one’s wrist for display. Beautifully stoned with diamonds, ladened in gold, exquisite face, with no movement. And in hundreds of thousands of similar cases, history has shown this to be an accurate picture. Certain philosophies come to my mind as movements that rendered themselves useless over time and exposure to the world. Like compounds approaching their shelf life, their collapse was inevitable and they eventually imploded without warning.
For some, a wrist watch as a useful instrument has become a work of art on one’s wrist for display. Beautifully stoned with diamonds, ladened in gold, exquisite face, with no movement. And in hundreds of thousands of similar cases, history has shown this to be an accurate picture. Certain philosophies come to my mind as movements that rendered themselves useless over time and exposure to the world. Like compounds approaching their shelf life, their collapse was inevitable and they eventually imploded without warning.
I suppose there are those who
would disagree but I believe that ideas undeniably have consequences and some
approach their shelf lives more dangerously than others. While some have not
fully burst at the seams, signs of instability appear. Take for example the two
promenade political parties of our country. Grumbles of discontent from within
their own ideological camps may hint at incoherence. Even so, the noticeable
shelf life of specific ideas causes me to question the cause of their
expiration, rather than assume it is time alone that moves an idea to expire.
This is no doubt well-studied
in science. Factors that increase and decrease the shelf life of a product move
well beyond time itself. When certain compounds are stored at decreased
temperatures, their shelf life is increased significantly. Likewise, it's like I keep telling Bettyann that the
development of preservatives dramatically set back the expiration dates on food
in our refrigerator. She gives me one of her disgusted looks of disbelief, as if to say I don't know what I'm talking about, tightly gripping the item and promptly buts it firmly in my hand and say,"just put it in the trash for me d-a-r-l-i-n-g!" I say, "but dear, it hasn't even a 'little green' on it." She doesn’t even argue with my comments or sincerely offered suggestions any longer. It’s a goner! It’s expired! Anyway, back to my point: like compounds and
breakfast items, all ideas do not expire equally. The thought is kept to myself but I still believe I would thus be badly
mistaken to dismiss a thought solely because anything is old. Even that self made beaver hat made forty years ago.
The ancient psalmist speaks
of God's hope as something that does not expire. "Your
promises have been thoroughly tested, and your servant loves them" Psalms 119:140.
Extending through generation after
generation, the promises of God stand untouched and unphased by a changing environment.
Personally I know how often I
have learned the hard way, thinking that surely modern thought has improved the
idea, only to find myself returning to words commanded generations ago. Again
and again God's own discover a reason to love the promising hope of Father,
Son, and Spirit: "I have learned from your statutes
that you established them to last forever."
Father, God, Speaking
reverently, I view Your Spirit as the ultimate preservative. I find Your love is not offered without depth. I find Your promises are filled with the
intention of life. Every promise in the
Book is mine, having been thoroughly tested
and have yet to expire. Amen
