Lately I have really been missing my grandfather who passed in November. Lily is working on her Ancestor Detector merit badge for American Heritage Girls so I have been able to share some of the memories I have of him and my grandmother. In the quiet of the night I find my mind returning to the words of the pastor at Dobb’s funeral service. He compared human life to that of a pecan. Let me attempt to explain.
The pastor talked about the things we remember most about Dobb: his smile that looked like he was up to something; the way he walked; his chuckle before he showed up the grand-kids; the phrases he used in his everyday speech. (I always think about the way he smelled, his rugged hands; the way he could never just sit still.) When we think of Dobb we think of his outward earthly body. After 93 years that body gave out.
A pecan has two main parts, the shell and the meat. The shell is a small part of what makes up a pecan. We are able to distinguish a pecan from other nuts by its shell. The shell has an important role of holding the meat. But, we throw the shell away and savor the meat. The meat of the pecan is the most important part of the pecan.
Now for the analogy: The human body is like the shell of a pecan. We use it to distinguish one person from another. Its role is to hold the meat (the soul of a person) for a time. Dobb’s body has been discarded and we are left with the meat, who he really was. While we remember the outward body, we can “savor” who he was! His hands were rugged because of his work ethic; he could not sit still because he was always tinkering about; his love for gardening merged with his generosity when he knowingly planted more than he could ever eat so he would have enough to share; his love for reading the bible that was a reflection of his heart and desire to know God better. Thankfully, we know that he had a personal relationship with Christ and his soul lives on.
If we apply this to ourselves, how concerned are we with the shell of our body that will one day be discarded compared to the time we spend concerned with the soul that is within us?
Cornbread cake? You heard me right. My aunt sent me a group of family favorite recipes last year and this was one of them. I could not get past the name. Well, fast forward to last month… while visiting my aunt she made this cake. It is now a must in my collection. I have made it twice since I’ve been home.
