Well, I was going to talk about the many wonderful attributes of granola (inspired by the four bowls I've eaten today), but it wasn't going anywhere so I stopped. Incidentally, did you know that granola was invented by one John Harvey Kellogg? I guess he wasn't satisfied with cornflakes!
I'd like to say something profound, (in fact, I already did--twice, but it was too sappy:p) but, unfortunately I'm not in a profound mood. So, I'll just ask a question instead. Why is it that our wills are so strong sometimes (usually when we'd rather they weren't) and so weak other times (just when we'd like them to assert themselves)? Paul says it better in Romans 7:15, "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do." Is there something in our brains that hardwires us to sin? Did sin biologically change us?
"Now how is he going to tie this in with granola?" you say. Well, I was just asking myself the same question. Let me think for a minute. ..... .... ... ... ... .. . . nope, nothing. ;)
The reason granola makes my mouth water so, is because it's well blended. Think about it. Most of you probably wouldn't find raw oats all that appetizing (this doesn't apply to the residents of room 1390. Or indeed to many of my readers!) Or plain bran flakes. Or handfuls of shredded coconut. But when a master baker is mixing them (plus a few other necessaries--sorry, no garlic johonn) together in just the right quantities and bakes them in an oven which has been set to utilize Q=mcΔt to the fullest extent;) you hit the jackpot! I just need to remember who's the Master Baker around here:)
Oh, and I'd be interested in hearing what kind of analogies you came up with to relate granola to Romans ;)
Excelsior
i like your dots "... ... ... ... ... .... ... ... ..."
ReplyDeleteHey Joel, mind if I add you as a link to my blog? You're welcome to add me to yours.
ReplyDeleteI'm building a network of smart SDA students, and you seem to qualify:-)
actually i find raw oats quite good! put a little milk and honey, and you have a gourmet delight, as barry would put it.
ReplyDeletePaul, I'm not quite sure I qualify, but you're welcome to link to my page. You and Barry were my inspiration to start in the first place!
ReplyDeleteJohonn, I knew you were going to say that, and that's why I put that disclaimer in!
Interestingly enough, there is a rather stretched connection between Romans and granola. "Oats were long viewed as animal feed, not people food, and early writings and drawings prominently feature cereals like wheat but scarcely mention oats. Later, Northern Europeans were teased by the Romans for eating oats, which the Romans considered a weed only good for animal feed or for making medicinal salves to apply to skin."
ReplyDeleteAs for analogies of the type you were seeking... Granola is the way we should be; well blended and in harmony. As Paul put it, we seem to do the very things we wish not to do. Our actions are in discord with what we wish to do. We sin over and over again despite that we so desperately wish to live the way God intends us to. We are not the well blended granola mix we should be. But when we daily die to self as we are called to do in Romans, we surrender the apron and chef's hat to the Master Baker and the results are much more than satisfactory.
thank you for that neatly written tie-in. It reminds me of the connections between horses' posteriors and the Space Shuttle ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if I should risk playing the gullibility card and ask what on earth you're talking about, or be terribly offended. Right now... I'm leaning toward the latter.
ReplyDeleteyou should preach a ShareHim evangelistic series and then you'd understand:) It's nothing to be offended at, in fact, quite the contrary-- I really admired both connections:)
ReplyDelete