Tender Juices

~ sparedbygrace@yahoo.com

Stewed, but not Tender 

Tender juices.  

What be they? 

Juices are just juices. 

Tender needs texture. 

No wonder he asked, 

“Dad, what are tender juices?” 

Dad chuckled and cleared up the mystery. 

“Intended uses” was his reply. 

What was the context, you might ask. 

A rote mealtime blessing. 

Part of which went like this:  

“Bless this food to its intended uses”. 

No wonder he was puzzled. 

I am glad he asked.  

I don’t think I would have asked.  

I would have been perpetually puzzled. 

Or, I would have drawn conclusions in my mind. 

None likely anywhere near accurate. 

Thank you, Steve, for asking the question. 

I think of that on occasion. 

I wonder…. 

“How much I have concluded based upon my ‘mishearing’?” 

I wonder… 

“How much of that I do in regard to my faith and theology?” 

What have I foreclosed on? 

What convictions without substance? 

Misunderstanding can be dangerous. 

Misunderstood, or created, can become gospel fact. 

Yet, I read that no scripture is for private interpretation. 

How much do I violate that? 

By mishearing, misunderstanding, or biased interpretation. 

Thank God for His promptings to ask questions. 

Thank God for His tenderness. 

I have more asking to do. 

Thanks, Steve, for the lesson. 

I could easily stew in my own juices. 

And never tenderized. 

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Published by sparedbygrace@yahoo.com

I am Richard Brewer—a Christ-follower, psychologist, husband, father, grandfather (Papa) sometimes writer, and lifelong student of people. For much of my professional life, I've had the privilege of sitting with people as they wrestle with some of life's most difficult questions—questions about faith, suffering, grief, relationships, identity, failure, hope, and what it means to live well. Those conversations have changed the way I see people and the way I understand my own faith. They have taught me that life is rarely as simple as our explanations of it, that people are almost always more complicated than they appear, and that sometimes the wisest response to a difficult question is to empathize and to keep asking better questions. I am a committed Christ-follower, but I am not interested in pretending that Christianity eliminates mystery or that faith means having an answer for everything. Faith invites us to pursue truth honestly, to think deeply, to acknowledge what we do not know, and ultimately to trust the God we do know. Mediocre Meanderings is where I explore some of those questions. I write about faith and psychology, grief and suffering, leadership and relationships, aging and ordinary life—and occasionally whatever else catches my attention along the way. I do not write from the perspective of someone who has figured life out. I write as someone who has lived enough of it to know that I have not. These are my thoughts, questions, observations, and occasional attempts at wisdom. Take what is useful. Challenge what is not. And, if you would like, meander along with me.